From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== Villiers opens the novel with his main character, a fictionalized Thomas Edison, contemplating the effects of his inventions on the world and the tragedy that they were not available until he invented them. Interrupted in his reverie, Edison receives a message from his friend Lord Ewald, who saved his life some years before and to whom he feels indebted. When Ewald calls, he reveals that he is close to suicide because of his fiancée, Miss Alicia Clary. Alicia is described as being physically perfect but emotionally and intellectually empty. She will say whatever she believes others want to hear. Far from having any ambition or goals of her own, she lives her life based on what she believes is expected of her. Ewald describes his frustration with the disparity between her appearance and her self and confides that though he can have no other, she is so hopeless that he has resolved to kill himself. Edison replies by offering to construct for Ewald a machine-woman in the form of Alicia but without any of her bothersome personality. He shows Ewald the prototype of the Android, named Hadaly, and Ewald is intrigued and accepts Edison's offer. Edison reveals that he has invited Alicia to his residence at Menlo Park in order to set the process in motion. He then explains to the still somewhat doubtful Ewald how he will interact with the Android and how natural it will all feel. Ewald then presses Edison to tell him why he created Hadaly in the first place. Edison relates a long story about Mr. Edward Anderson who was tempted into infidelity by a young woman named Miss Evelyn. His indiscretion, brought about by the guile of Miss Evelyn, ruins his life completely. Edison then says that he tracked down Miss Evelyn only to discover that she was not as she appeared, rather she was horribly ugly and her beauty was entirely the work of cosmetics, wigs, and other accessories. Edison created Hadaly in an effort to overcome the flaws and artificiality of real women and create a perfect and natural woman who could bring a man true happiness. Edison then takes Ewald back to Hadaly and explains to him the exact mechanical details of her functioning: how she moves and talks and breathes and bathes, all the while explaining how natural and normal Hadaly's robotic needs are, comparing them to similar human actions and functions. After the details of the android's functioning and construction are covered, Alicia arrives and is escorted in. Edison convinces her that she is being considered for an important theater role. Over the course of the next weeks, she poses for Edison and her exact physical likeness is duplicated and recordings of her voice are made. Eventually, Edison sends Alicia away and introduces Ewald to his artificial Alicia without revealing that it is not the real thing. Ewald is very taken with her and she secretly reveals to him that she is in fact not simply an Android but has been supernaturally endowed with the spirit of Sowana, Edison's mystical assistant. Ewald does not reveal this fact to Edison but instead leaves with Hadaly-Alicia-Sowana. However, before he can reach home to his new life with his new lover, Ewald's ship sinks and the Android, who was traveling with the cargo, is destroyed. ===== Sean (Graham Kosakoski), Ritch (Brody Harms), Wes (Tyler Hoechlin), and Lauren (Kate Todd) celebrate their college graduation by breaking into Saranoc Grotto, a forest heavily marked with "No Trespassing" signs and surrounded by a tall fence. While speeding down a dirt road, they hit and kill a grizzly bear cub, sending their Jeep Cherokee into a tree and cracking the radiator. As they argue over whether they should bury the dead cub, they hear its mother coming and run. The vehicle overheats down the road so Wes and Ritch go into the forest to find water. The grizzly bear finds and attacks Ritch. Having heard Ritch's screams to run, Wes inadvertently runs into the bear and it attacks him. The other two arrive and rescue Wes, but are unable to help Ritch. The bear kills him while the others flee to the Jeep. The vehicle starts again and they leave, but Wes panics and tries to force Sean to turn around and go back for Ritch, causing the car to go over a cliff. Calmer, he wants to wait for help, but no one knows where they are because they had told their families they were going somewhere else. They winch the vehicle back up to the road, but they cannot get it to start. Sean goes alone and jogs out of the forest to find help while Wes and Lauren wait at the Jeep. He comes across a deserted shack where he finds hunting paraphernalia, a bear trap, and dead animals. As he leaves, the bear appears. He tries to sneak past the bear, but instead he runs into the bear, it throws him on the roof of the shack and then he falls into a chicken coop. Hours later he makes it back to the Jeep, but his leg is injured. Wes decides to climb a tall hill on the other side of the clearing to see if he can get a signal on his cell phone, but to no avail and the bear nearly catches him. He quickly climbs back down and gets back to the Jeep though it still will not start. He and Lauren hide in the Jeep with the wounded Sean in the back. The bear follows and climbs on top of the Jeep, smashing up the car and eventually overturning it before leaving as the sun sets. Sean wakes up and tells them about the deserted shack, crying about wanting to go home before he dies. Wes and Lauren turn the Jeep right side up, load him back in the car, then push the Jeep down the hilly road as a thunderstorm hits. Using the downward momentum and occasionally pushing, they arrive near the shack. While Lauren is exploring the shack with the trap, the bear swings at her through a window sending her back against the trap, which impales her back. She returns to the vehicle where the bear rips off the tailgate and drags away Sean's body. Wes grabs a can of gasoline and pours a trail from the Jeep to the woods. They lure the grizzly bear to it and then set the gasoline on fire. The Jeep explodes, but the bear is unharmed. They decide to try another plan and split up. Wes climbs a tree, leaving his blood covered clothes on the ground to trick the bear. While the bear is sniffing at the clothes, Wes accidentally drops the tire iron, alerting the bear to his presence. The bear shakes him out of the tree but he escapes and goes to the shack where Lauren has built a trap. They lure the bear into the shack, and use a trigger to close the front door behind it, locking it in. They celebrate and start to leave but the bear breaks out of the shack and they both try to escape. Unfortunately, Wes stumbles and Lauren tries to get him back up, refusing to leave him behind despite his desperate insistence that she should run. The bear catches up to them and kills them both. ===== Arthur Fane arranges an unusual entertainment for his uncle, a long-term guest, and a few other witnesses—he hires Dr. Rich to hypnotise his wife Victoria. The guests, but not Victoria, have been shown that a gun in the room is actually harmless; everyone, including Victoria, is aware that a dagger provided is made of rubber. The hypnotised Victoria is invited to shoot her husband, and refuses; when told to stab him, though, she agrees. Unfortunately, someone has substituted a real dagger for the rubber one, even though everyone in the room agrees that it would have been impossible to make the substitution. Although Sir Henry Merrivale is busily engaged in dictating his scandalous and slanderous memoirs to a ghost writer, he takes a hand to solve the murder with his friend Chief Inspector Masters, and brings things to a head just as another death occurs. Category:1941 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== Wealthy art connoisseur Dwight Stanhope, his glamorous wife Christabel and his pretty daughters, sensible Betty and neurotic Eleanor, have invited a couple of guests to their mansion "Waldemere"; Vincent James, the "weekend perennial -- charming and a bit thick" and Nick Wood, an attractive young man about whom little is known. What is odd is that Dwight Stanhope's valuable paintings, including a Rembrandt, have been moved from the burglarproof gallery to the main floor, and their insurance policy has been cancelled. Everyone in the mansion (built by Flavia Jenner, a Victorian actress of easy virtue, and including her own private theatre) has the jitters. No one is really surprised when there's a huge clatter in the middle of the night and a masked burglar is found stabbed in front of the paintings—but everyone is amazed to see that the dead burglar is Dwight Stanhope. Sir Henry Merrivale arrives and suspicious events begin to happen thick and fast; he mixes investigation with an uproarious performance as a stage magician at a children's show and solves the crime. Category:1942 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== Elderly Dr. Luke Croxley narrates a story with a very old theme set against the English village of Lynmouth. Rita Wainwright is 38, "a mature beauty with a weakness for younger men". Her gentle husband, Alec, more than 20 years older, seems more interested in radio broadcasts of World War II news than in his wife's notorious affair with a handsome young American actor, Barry Sullivan. Rita and Barry decide to run away together but a radio performance of Romeo and Juliet apparently turns their minds to a romantic double suicide. After the broadcast, their twin lines of footprints lead up to the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean, and none return. When their bodies are found, though, it is found that both of them had been shot through the heart at very close range, "body range, with some small-calibre weapon". Sir Henry Merrivale is in the neighbourhood posing for a portrait by a local artist (in the garb of a Roman Senator), and agrees to investigate this baffling mystery, which he solves just in time to take his place in the House of Lords. ===== The story is set in modern Japan. Sōko Kiryū is a beautiful first year transfer student in high school, having just moved into the area. Due to her uneasiness over the move, she has developed dizziness and fainting spells. Shortly after she transfers into the new school, she somehow causes a would-be rapist who attacks her in the infirmary to simply vanish, leaving his clothes on the floor. About this time, a boy named Akira later known as Byakko, appears at the school and begins pursuing her. He tells her that he is Byakko, the white tiger of the west, and that he will kill her because she is the clone of the demon queen Soryū. With growing a horn, remembering a hunger for humans, and exhibiting unusual powers, Sōko is forced to accept that she is an oni even though she denies it. However, due to her growing feelings of love for Akira and her desire to become human, Sōko is determined to fight against this ill fate. ===== When the TARDIS goes missing in a busy spaceport, the Doctor and you must race against time and across space to find it, before the Doctor's incredible spaceship is lost forever. ===== The book begins with the story of David Moray, his early career as an ambitious young doctor away on business. He has promised to return to marry a woman he loves, Mary Douglas. Early on in the story he is introduced to successful people and is invited to accompany a prominent family on their ship as their personal physician. In doing so he breaks his promise to Mary and goes in another direction. Instead he briefly marries and divorces Doris, the daughter of the wealthy family he has befriended, whom he indicates was unsound mentally. Later in David's life he is a wealthy, retired Scottish doctor living in Switzerland who is haunted by the memory of Mary. Attempting to go back to an earlier time, and too late, he returns home to seek her out and make amends. He learns that Mary has died and instead encounters her young, penniless daughter, Kathy, who is involved in mission work. He indulges in a friendship which evolves into more. Logically doubtful and not believing he can have a life with Kathy, David marries Frida, a countess whom he does not love. Not reading a letter Kathy sent, he is unaware Kathy believes they are soon to reunite. Awaiting their departure for a honeymoon cruise his ruminations are interrupted by a brief thought of the unopened letter. He then overhears his butler speaking to Kathy, who has just made a difficult journey to reach him. Overwhelmed that he could have been with her on his own terms at this location and not the mission, he is at a loss for words - David cannot explain that he has just married someone. Frida asks to speak to Kathy alone, explaining that David found her by seeking her mother whom he failed to return for, and that David would never have returned to help her in her mission as a doctor. He needed a woman who would be strong enough to master him. Underestimating the reaction, Kathy runs out into the night to her accidental death. Kathy was betrayed more by David's cynicism, doubt and lack of courage than by the ambition that detoured him years earlier, although that is still evidently present in his choosing a countess for social advantages. In the end, distraught in his loss, David looks outward toward the garden and a Judas tree comes into focus. Dramatically he has not only failed his first love, but also her daughter, resulting in her death. It is not so much ironic as it is illustrative of the span of time in which he has made similar choices with consequences. The following morning his butler sees his body hanging from the tree. Previously in the book, a Judas tree was referred to as "The Tree of Lost Souls." Some might assume David has realized at the end that he is a lost soul after having inflicted such misery on others due to his lack of morality. Others might infer the character is moral, clearly having a suffering conscience, and in hindsight merely took steps in the wrong direction. ===== The novel follows private investigators Derek Strange and Terry Quinn as they work on several cases in Washington DC. Strange's main case is to provide evidence for the defense lawyers of drug lord Granville Oliver. Two secondary cases involve the disappearance of women. ===== Strange is working on the defence of Granville Oliver. Oliver has been charged with the murder of his uncle and faces the death penalty. Strange is trying to locate Devra Stokes who can discredit the testimony of the prosecution's witness Phillip Wood. He learns that Stokes is working in a beauty salon paid for by Wood's successor Horace McKinley. She refuses to testify. Quinn is working on a separate case for his girlfriend. He believes a group of young men have the information he needs but is unable to get them to talk to him. Dewayne Durham and Horace McKinley are considering eliminating one another's organizations to cut down on competition. McKinley's enforcers James and Jeremy Coates perform a drive-by shooting on Jerome Long and Alante Jones as they deal drugs for Durham. Durham is forced to respond and instructs Long to kill the Coates brothers. McKinley learns that Stokes talked to Strange and tries to intimidate her by sexually assaulting her. Stokes is enraged by his actions and decides to testify. Strange and Quinn are employed to locate Olivia Elliot by Mario Durham. They find her quickly and pass the information to Durham. Durham rents a gun from Ulysses Foreman and approaches Elliot. They argue and he murders her and conceals her body in the woods. He returns the gun to Foreman and admits to firing it but claims he did not shoot anyone. Foreman rents the gun to Mario's brother Dewayne for Jerome Long. Mario goes into hiding with his friend Donut. Long manages to kill Jeremy Coates but is shot by James immediately afterwards. Jones drives his car at James Coates and kills him but is shot as he does so. The police tie the shooting to the murder of Olivia Elliot by matching the gun. Durham learns of the link between the incidents when the police question him; he puts Mario into hiding and begins to suspect that Foreman is working against him. Strange and Quinn are questioned by the police and give them Durham's identity. They try to track Mario themselves as they feel partly responsible for Elliot's murder but the police beat them to Donut. Donut refuses to give up Mario's whereabouts to either the investigators or the police. Mario begins to follow in Donut's footsteps and sells fake narcotics on the street. One of his customers returns and murders him. Strange finds that his home has been burgled and his files relating to the Oliver case stolen. He has an answerphone message threatening him with obstruction of justice as one of the witnesses he interviewed gave him information that he should have passed to the police. Strange was unaware of the requirement and seeks advice from Oliver's legal team. Strange meets with Devra and agrees to relocate her for safety. He begins to follow McKinley and tracks him to Foreman's home where he sells weapons. Strange has Quinn meet him there and Quinn tails McKinley back to his home but is noticed. Strange tracks an employee of Foreman's to a gun store and observes him buying a weapon under false pretences. He passes the information to a contact in the police. He asks Quinn to watch over Devra. Quinn leaves Devra unwatched to return to question the men about his missing girl but is again unsuccessful. He is increasingly agitated about being intimidated by the men. Strange and Quinn meet at the beauty salon and find that McKinley has abducted Stokes. They ambush him at his home and rescue her. McKinley has had his enforcer Mike Montgomery take her son to a separate location. Quinn takes Stokes home and finds that Montgomery has had a change of heart and returned the boy. Strange cuts McKinley and McKinley threatens him in a way similar to the answerphone message. Strange leaves McKinley injured but alive. McKinley calls Foreman for help when he is unable to get hold of Montgomery and tries to recruit him into attacking Durham. When they confront Durham Foreman shoots McKinley and rants about not taking orders from drug dealers. Despite their success with Stokes Quinn is unable to let go of his failure with the other case. He again visits the group of men, this time taking his gun, he intimidates them into giving him the information he needs which he writes down. As he drives away the men ambush and murder him at a stop sign. Months later Oliver is convicted and faces the death penalty despite Stokes's testimony. Dewayne Durham and Ulysses Foreman have been arrested and are facing trial. Quinn's missing girl is found using the information he wrote down. Angry at his partner's violent death Strange returns to the gun store at night and burns it down. ===== The mailman has delivered a letter to "B. Bonny" (Bertram Bonny), but when the truck pulls out, the exhaust from the tailpipe causes the letter to drift out of the mailbox and accidentally drop into Bugs Bunny's hole. Bugs, in the middle of his morning workout (including a brief workout of his ears), eventually sees the letter and assumes it is for him (regardless of the slightly different surname); his response after reading it is a shocked "Holy cats, I've been drafted!" Bugs's going through the Army induction center only causes some small reactions: * After asking a guard for directions, the guard assumes "so they're inducting rabbits." * Before Bugs has his X-rays taken, a tall, lanky, tiny-headed person behind him looks down at him and in response looks and chuckles at the audience. When the doctor sees Bugs' skeleton, he assumes he (the doctor) has been overworked. * Bugs also passes the eye exam with flying colors from the first letter right down to the microscopic "Reg. U.S. Pat. Off." disclaimer at the bottom of the chart. This joke is a reference to Bugs eating a steady diet of carrots, rich in Vitamin A, which promotes good eyesight. Once in the army, though, he quickly causes problems. His shoes are too big, so when his sergeant calls for the men lined up to "about face," Bugs accidentally literally knocks the rest of the line over like bowling pins. Bugs reports to the drill sergeant in basic training. The sergeant calls Bugs forward, where Bugs introduces himself as "Private Bugs Bunny reporting, your majesty, sir!" The sergeant does not believe it is really Bugs, and sarcastically refers to himself as "Sergeant Porky Pig." However, his colonel replies "And I am Colonel Putty Tat. General Tweety Pie was asking about you, Sergeant." When the Colonel inspects Bugs and orders him to "about face," Bugs knocks over the colonel with his large shoes. As punishment, Bugs and the sergeant — now noticeably demoted to three stripes ("buck" sergeant) — take a long hike that sees both of them crawling back to their bunk (at "Camp Ono" — Ono, Pennsylvania also happens to be a hamlet near Fort Indiantown Gap, a former Army base) in the middle of the night. Bugs, after peeling back his sweating shoes, finally lies down in his bunk, but is woken by "Reveille" seconds later. Bugs, intending to moider that bugler," runs out with a baseball bat and a "whack" is heard off-screen. After Bugs decides to take a bath, it is shown that Bugs really smashed a record player. Later that morning, the colonel is furiously looking for his helmet. The sergeant finds Bugs taking his bath, using the colonel's helmet as his bathtub. After Bugs makes a comment about cleanliness being next to godliness, the sergeant throws Bugs out and runs off with the helmet full of soapy water — only to run into the colonel. The colonel then puts his helmet on and gets splashed, blowing out soap bubbles afterwards. Now demoted to corporal, Bugs's drill-master has Bugs "clean and dress" the camp's chickens for the officer's dinner dance that night — though Bugs has them all dressed in tuxedos. Bugs then tries to nail a calendar to the wall above his bunk using a large ammunition shell instead of a hammer, which causes all the neighboring soldiers to flee their quarters in a panic. The corporal runs up just in time to almost get hit with the shell when it goes off — but, much to the corporal's shock, the shell pierces clean through the angry colonel's helmet, making him look like the devil. Now reduced in rank to private, Bugs's former drill sergeant asks the now-bandaged Bugs Bunny what he has against him, asking him why he does not listen to orders, assuming Bugs is causing problems on purpose and hoping to reason with him. As he does, he starts to mention his long ears and then his fur and tail, and finally realizes he really is a rabbit, and runs off to inform his superiors. The general apologizes to Bugs for the mix-up, explaining that Congress did not pass any laws saying that rabbits could be inducted into the military. Bugs, however, wants to do his part for the military. The general tells Bugs there is something he can do — Bugs is then seen testing ammunition shells by striking the top with a mallet and marking them as DUD when they do not explode. Bugs then tells the audience, "And just think! In 30 years, I can retire!" ===== The film opens at the 1937 Academy Awards, where Biberman's wife, Gale Sondergaard (Greta Scacchi), wins the first ever "Best Supporting Actress" Oscar. Although the anti-Fascist sentiment in her acceptance speech gets her labelled a "commie" by some observers, she and Biberman (Jeff Goldblum) are placed under contract at Warner Bros. He first comes under scrutiny more for his Jewish background than his political activities. Yet, with Cold War paranoia growing, a group of Hollywood directors and actors — Biberman, Sondergaard, Danny Kaye and Dalton Trumbo among them - are labelled Communists and questioned in front of Congress. After refusing to testify against his colleagues, he is imprisoned in the Federal Correctional Institution at Texarkana for a period of six months. Once released, he discovers his Hollywood career is finished. Sondergaard suggests that her husband should direct a screenplay about the real-life 1950-51 strike waged by Mexican-American miners against the Empire Zinc Company in Bayard, New Mexico written by Michael Wilson, also a victim of the blacklist and Biberman's brother Michael. She feels the lead role of Esperanza Quintero, who rallied the wives of the unemployed miners and urged them to support their husbands, is an ideal way to jump-start her stagnating career. Biberman agrees, but after meeting with the people who participated in the strike and being inspired by their passion, he decides all roles should be played by ethnic actors. Because the film has no studio backing and most Hollywood players fear being associated with Biberman and the project, he eventually casts local residents from Grant County, New Mexico and members of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 890 to fill most of the roles. Juan Chacón, the Union Local president, is cast as the fiery Ramon Quintero opposite Mexican actress Rosaura Revueltas as his wife Esperanza. Will Geer is one of only five Hollywood actors to accept a role in the production. The FBI investigates the film's financing, attempts to steal the film's negatives and, when they can't be located, tells film-processing labs not to work on the film, incites locals who are unhappy with the film crew's presence to set fire to many of the sets and eventually deports Revueltas on bogus charges. Biberman stands his ground and completes the film, using scenes with Revueltas that were shot in her native Mexico and then smuggled into the US. ===== ===== Bernice Lee (Sonya Wilde) is a young woman of mixed African and European ancestry, living in Chicago with her family, and she is mistaken for a purely white woman by a white man, who tries to hit on her repeatedly. Her brother, more obviously of mixed heritage, fights off the man. Bernice's grandmother consoles her when she confides her troubles. After a failed attempt at looking for employment as a black woman, she decides to leave town. She begins to use the name Lila Brownell and live as a white woman. On the plane to New York City, she meets and eventually marries the man of her dreams – Rick Leyton (James Franciscus) – and fails to mention her African ancestry, an important omission as interracial marriage is not a constitutional right in 1960. James and his wealthy family and friends are white. Her white friend Sally (Patricia Michon) and black maid Bertha (Isabel Cooley) both advise her not to tell him. She becomes pregnant, and fears the child will have black features or coloring – and gets a book to read about this unlikely possibility, which she hides. Rick eventually discovers it, and their maid claims the book belongs to her. Lila goes into premature labor and has a stillborn child, but cries out "Is the baby black?" after she awakens from anesthesia. This leads Rick to suspect that his wife has been unfaithful. Eventually, she and her husband divorce without Bernice's having revealed her true name or past. She then returns to her family in Chicago and her original identity. ===== Scrooge McDuck has bought land in India's Punjab region, and arrives on the scene together with Donald and his nephews to inspect what he has bought. He meets with the local maharaja to seek his help in enlisting a work force, but the maharaja openly admits to being thoroughly corrupt, diverting the millions of dollars in foreign aid sent to his province; he declines to help, since it's his people's abject poverty that keeps that aid flowing into his coffers. Left on their own, the Ducks begin their quest, when they accidentally discover a stone pillar, dating back to 326 BC, and tells the tale of Alexander the Great's attempt to conquer Punjab. However, the conquest failed, with Alexander's men fleeing India in utter terror. The tale also tells that Alexander was seeking Shambala, an ancient Indian city containing untold riches. When Scrooge hears of this, he sets out to find the city for himself. The maharaja overhears this and follows the Ducks in secret. The Ducks eventually find Shambala in ruins, but the city is still booby-trapped with mortal dangers. Near the main temple they find some sort of control panel with ten buttons, each based on one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. The boys stay at the control panel while Scrooge and Donald venture deeper, maintaining radio contact with the boys. All sorts of Indiana Jones-like trap situations occur when Scrooge and Donald progress on their way, with the boys saving them every time by telling them what to do and pressing the right button at the right time. Scrooge and Donald eventually find the treasure, but it's protected with one last booby-trap. The boys are about to clear this trap too, but the maharaja has caught up with them, and prevents the boys from pushing the button, causing the treasure to be flushed into a nearby river. The maharaja pushes another button, which sets off Shambala's self-destruct mechanism. The Ducks and the maharaja flee the city post-haste. When arriving back in the maharaja's village, the Ducks find that the river has carried the treasure there, but the villagers have already shared it among themselves, finally having enough money to abandon the village and start new lives elsewhere. Scrooge, taking the loss of the treasure philosophically, offers to discuss employing the villagers in his future enterprises in India, and they are happy to agree. The Maharaja is left in despair. With no treasure and now the ruler of an empty village, he has no remaining pretext to collect "aid" from unsuspecting foreign nations. As the Ducks depart, Scrooge cheerfully reminds him that he still has an unlimited supply of one legacy from his ancestors: the number zero. ===== In 1192, Temüjin, a prisoner in the Tangut kingdom, recounts his story through a series of flashbacks. Embarking on an expedition 20 years earlier (1172), nine-year-old Temüjin is accompanied by his father Yesügei to select a girl as his future wife. He meets and chooses Börte, against his father's wishes. On their way home, Yesügei is poisoned by an enemy tribe; on his dying breath, he tells his son that he is now Khan. However, Targutai, Yesügei's lieutenant, proclaims himself as Khan and is about to kill his young rival. Prevented from doing so by the boy's mother, Targutai lets him go and vows to kill him as soon as he becomes an adult. After falling through a frozen lake, Temüjin is rescued by Jamukha. The two quickly become friends and take an oath as blood brothers. Targutai later captures him, but he escapes under the cover of night and roams the countryside. Years later (1186), Temüjin is once again apprehended by Targutai. He escapes a second time, finding Börte and presenting her to his family. Later that night, they are attacked by the Merkit tribe. While being chased on horseback, Temüjin is shot with an arrow but survives. Börte, however, is kidnapped and taken to the Merkit camp.Sergei Bodrov. (2007). Mongol [Motion picture]. Russia: Picturehouse Entertainment. Temüjin goes to Jamukha—who is now his tribe's Khan—and seeks his help in rescuing his wife. Jamukha agrees, and after a year, they launch an attack on the Merkits and are successful. One night, while celebrating their victory, Temüjin demonstrates his generosity by allowing his troops to take an equal share of the plunder. Two of Jamukha's men see this as a stark contrast to their Khan's behavior and desert him the next morning by following their new master. Jamukha chases him down and demands that he give his men back, to which he refused. This act, aggravated by the inadvertent killing of his biological brother by one of Temüjin's men, leaves Jamukha (with Targutai as an ally) no choice but to declare war on him. Outnumbered, Temüjin's army is quickly defeated. Sparing his blood brother, Jamukha decides to sell him into slavery. Temüjin is sold to a Tangut nobleman despite the dire warning given to him by a Buddhist monk acting as his adviser, who senses the great potential the warrior carries and his future role in subjugating the Tangut State. While he is imprisoned, the monk pleads with him to spare his monastery when he will destroy the kingdom sometime in the future. In exchange for delivering a bone fragment to Börte indicating that he is still alive, Temüjin agrees. The monk succeeds in delivering the bone and the message at the cost of his life. Börte infiltrates the Tangut border town disguised as a merchant's concubine and the two escape. Temüjin pledges to unify all of the Mongol tribes and imposes three basic laws for them to abide to: never kill women and children, always honor your promises and repay your debts, and never betray your Khan. Subsequently, (1196), he gathers an army and engages Jamukha, who has an even larger force. During the battle, a thunderstorm arises on the steppe, terrifying Jamhukha's and Temujin's armies, who cower in fear. However Temujin doesn't cower in fear , and when his army sees him riding unafraid they are inspired to also be fearless and charge Jamukha's helpless and cowering army, which surrenders immediately. Temüjin allows Jamukha to live and brings the latter's army under his banner. Targutai is killed by his own soldiers and his body is presented to the Khan as a way of appeasing him, but they are executed for disobeying the law. A postscript indicates that by 1206, Temüjin was designated the Khan of all the Mongols—Genghis Khan of the Great Steppe. He would later go on to invade and conquer the Tangut kingdom by 1227, fulfilling the monk's prophecy, but spared the monastery, honoring his debt to the monk. ===== The series explores the ancient secrets of dragons and their society. ===== The plot focuses on the lives and romances of Laure, Caroline and Jessica, three young women living in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. Laure is a sensitive woman working as a doctor in a hospital of Saint-Tropez. Caroline is a willful and smart woman who works hard to make it as a singer and a lawyer. Jessica is a beautiful American blonde who works as a bartender, a model and a dancer. ===== Gospel Hill tells the intersecting story of two men in the fictional South Carolina town of Julia. Danny Glover plays John Malcolm, the son of a slain civil rights activist Paul Malcolm (Samuel L. Jackson). Jack Herrod (Tom Bower) is the white former sheriff who never officially solved the murder. Their paths begin to cross when a development corporation comes to town with plans to raze Julia's historic African-American community of Gospel Hill, now fallen into disrepair, to build a golf course. John Malcolm's wife Sarah (Angela Bassett), a schoolteacher, seems alone in her opposition to the project, which is being endorsed by Gospel Hill's prominent African-American physician, Dr. Palmer (Esposito). Meanwhile, a young white teacher (Julia Stiles) comes to town and falls for a handsome young landscaper (Taylor Kitsch), whose business is booming thanks to Dr. Palmer's patronage. ===== In early 17th century France, the poor but virile d'Artagnan travels to Paris to join the Musketeers (the King's bodyguard). He meets and falls in love with Lady Constance Bonacieux, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne. Meanwhile, Cardinal Richelieu learns that the Queen has given a diamond heart brooch, which was a present to her from the King, as a token of love to the Duke of Buckingham. Richelieu suggests that the King ask the Queen to wear it at a planned royal gala. Richelieu dispatches the Comte de Rochefort and Milady de Winter to London to recover the gem, which he plans to unveil at the gala in order to reveal that the Queen has been unfaithful. The Queen asks her lady-in-waiting, Constance Bonacieux, to involve the Musketeers in the jewel's speedy recovery so that she might foil the plot. But when the Musketeers reach London, they are too late: Lady de Winter has arrived first. D’Artagnan uses his seductive charms upon Milady de Winter and steals the bauble. After a rousing sword fight, the Musketeers kill de Rochefort and rush back to Paris just in time to bring the jewel to the gala. King Louis fastens it to the Queen's shoulder just as he did when he first gave it to her. ===== A stranger in town meets pretty young Susan Martinez De La Cruz and accompanies her to a barbecue, where wealthy Jason Carberry is saying a few words for the recently departed Robin Randall, a citizen who got shot. Jason objects to the stranger's presence, being Susan's guardian and protective of her. He challenges him to a shootout, but the stranger pulls his pistol before Jason's can even clear the holster. Calaveras Kate, a saloon singer who's in love with Jason, is relieved when the stranger declines to pull the trigger. Rafael Moreno suddenly rides into town and picks a fight with the stranger. Their brawl continues until the arrival of Judge Wallace Wintrop and his niece, Sheila, who have come to town from back East and deplore all this random violence out West. The stranger is recognized as Reb Randall, the dead man's brother. He is looking for the killer, who could be Rafael, or could be Jason, or could even be Billy Buckett, the coward of the county. The women hold their breath to see if the men they love will survive. ===== The Dell mapback edition of 1950 is subtitled "Murder in the Zoo". Edward Benton, director of the Royal Albert Zoological Gardens, is worried about what the year 1941 will bring to his beloved collection of snakes and reptiles; it seems as if they will be destroyed, at the request of the Department of Home Security, to prevent poisonous snakes from escaping in the case of an air raid. Nevertheless, he is still making arrangements to add to the exhibits, including a recent acquisition, "Patience", a tree-snake from Borneo. Accomplished stage magicians Carey Quint and Madge Palliser, whose families’ professional rivalry goes back four generations, are visiting the zoo, each to research certain snakes in connection with an illusion which both claim was invented by an ancestor. They quarrel, and somehow the glass cage breaks that encloses a tropical American lizard. The lizard immediately attacks Sir Henry Merrivale, also a visitor. After the lizard is subdued, all three are led by the security guard to Dr. Benton's home on the grounds, to make their explanations and apologies. He is easily mollified, and his daughter Louise invites all three to dinner that evening. Louise is worried about her father's mental equilibrium. When the three arrive to find what seems to be an empty house, with dinner burning away merrily in the kitchen, they are perplexed. Then they discover Dr. Benton has apparently locked all the doors and windows of his study, sealed them with paper strips, and gassed himself. Louise asks Sir Henry to investigate because she is sure that, even in committing suicide, her father would not have killed the innocent tree- snake, Patience. Sir Henry must investigate against the backdrop of England in 1940, with airplanes constantly buzzing overhead. The involvement of two professional magicians, however, points out a path to a solution — to make people think they've experienced something which indeed they have not. Sir Henry corners the murderer and extracts a confession in a dramatic climax that involves a rattlesnake, a mamba and a cobra. Category:1944 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:Locked-room mysteries Category:Fiction set in 1940 Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== Lady Helen Loring does not believe in the ancient Egyptian curse associated with an ancient artifact, a bronze lamp that is a gift from the Egyptian government. It comes from a tomb that Helen and her father, Lord Severn, helped excavate. In defiance of the dire predictions of an Egyptian soothsayer, she brings the lamp back to Severn Hall, her ancestral home in England. At the door, Helen stepped out of the car, leaving her friends to follow her into the Hall. Less than three minutes later, they did—and Helen had vanished. On the floor, in the middle of the vast entrance hall, were her coat and the bronze lamp. Luckily, Sir Henry Merrivale is nearby and unafraid of any and all spirits and soothsayers; after a murder shocks the inhabitants of Severn Hall, he solves both the disappearance and the murder. Category:1945 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:Locked-room mysteries Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== Roger Bewlay is a murderer; the British police are sure he's a murderer, and so is noted detective and explainer of the impossible, Sir Henry Merrivale. Bewlay has married at least four women who promptly vanish on their honeymoons. Unfortunately, Bewlay himself has also vanished. Years later, a well-known actor receives the script of a play about Roger Bewlay from an anonymous source, which he determines to produce and in which he will star. The script contains information known only to the police, one witness and Roger Bewlay himself. That reopens the old case and involves the actor, his good-looking female director, and a woman named Mildred Lyons who soon turns up dead in the actor's bedroom. Sir Henry Merrivale must identify Roger Bewlay's new identity and work out an extremely ingenious place to hide a corpse. Category:1946 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== In 1922, Scott Mason Carter graduates from Chase Medical School in Chicago and marries Marcia. Both are light-skinned enough to be mistaken for whites. Scott has landed an internship, but his fellow graduate, the dark-skinned Jesse Pridham, wonders if he will have to work as a Pullman porter until there is an opening in a black hospital. When Scott goes to Georgia, the black hospital director tells him that the board of directors has decided to give preference to Southern applicants and rescinds the job offer. The couple live in Boston with Marcia's parents, who have been passing as white. Her father and some of their black friends suggest they do the same. Instead, Scott continues to apply as a Negro and is repeatedly rejected. Scott finally yields, quits his job making shoes, and masquerades as white for a one-year internship in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There, Scott responds to an emergency. At an isolated lighthouse, he has to operate immediately on a sport fisherman who is bleeding to death. His patient turns out to be Dr. Walter Bracket, the well-known director of a local clinic. Impressed, Dr. Bracket offers Scott a position as town doctor in Keenham (a fictionalized version of Keene, New Hampshire), replacing Bracket's recently deceased father. Scott declines, explaining that he is a Negro. Dr. Bracket, though he admits he would not have made the offer had he known, recommends Scott take the job without revealing his race. With his wife pregnant, Scott reluctantly agrees. Scott and Marcia are relieved when their newborn son appears as white as they do. Scott slowly gains the trust and respect of the residents. By 1942, when the United States enters World War II, the Carters are pillars of the community. Their son, Howard, attends the University of New Hampshire, while daughter Shelly is in high school. Scott goes to Boston once a week to work at the Charles Howard Clinic, which Jesse Pridham and he established for patients of all races. The Carters have kept their secret even from their own children. When Howard invites a black classmate, Arthur Cooper, to visit, Shelly worries aloud what her friends will think about a "coon" staying in their home. Scott sternly orders her never to use that word again. When Arthur goes to a party with Howard, some guests make bigoted remarks behind his back. Scott and Howard enlist in the Navy, but after a background check, Scott's commission as a lieutenant commander is suddenly revoked for "failure to meet physical conditions". The only position open to blacks in the Navy is steward. The Carters have no choice but to tell their children the truth. Howard breaks up with his white girlfriend. He rents a room in Harlem and roams the streets. When Shelly's boyfriend Andy asks her about the "awful rumor" about her family, Shelly confesses that it is true. He asks her to the school dance anyway, but she turns him down. In Harlem, Howard investigates screams and finds two black men fighting. When one pulls out a gun, Howard intervenes. The gun goes off and the gunman flees, but Howard is taken into custody. To a sympathetic black police lieutenant, Howard explains, "I came here to find out what it's like to be a Negro." Arthur Cooper collects his friend from the police station. Howard and his father return to Keenham. When they attend their regular Sunday church service, the minister preaches a sermon of tolerance, then notes that the Navy has just ended its racist policy. The narrator announces that Scott Carter remains the doctor for a small New Hampshire town. ===== Mance was the chief visionary and engineer behind the skytower, a super space elevator which ran from Ecuador all the way into low Earth orbit. When religious fundamentalists and agents of the scheming Yamagata Corporation sabotage the skytower, however, millions are killed; Mance is faced with his own guilt for the tragedy and sees himself as ostensibly responsible. He is arrested and put on trial. Things turn out even worse for Mance when his friends, bioengineer Victor Molina and Rev. Elliott Danvers, abandon him, and he is exiled to a life of hard work and misery in the Asteroid Belt, far from his beloved wife Lara—upon whom the double-crossing Victor Molina had always harbored designs. For a time, he escapes his fate in the Belt by being inducted into the crew of an ore hauler, where for a while he contemplates his life and comes to the conclusion that he was set up. Ultimately he falls for the captain's beautiful young daughter Addie. When the same forces responsible for the destruction of the skytower destroy the freighter, Mance manages to survive by having been outside, tethered to the ship as punishment from the captain for having been caught with his daughter. Rescued against all odds, Mance is brought to the moon to recuperate, where he is able to assume the identity of the ship's late first officer, Dante Alexios, by undergoing extensive nano reconstruction to make him appear outwardly identical to Dante Alexios. With his new persona, Mance/Dante leads a successful engineering career, which empowers him to plot his revenge against those whom he blames for his downfall: the simple but good-natured New Morality clergyman Elliott Danvers, and Molina (who has since married Lara with whom he has a child) and the Yamagata Corporation. Mance lures the three to Mercury where he manages to infiltrate the Yamagata operations and cause financially ruinous delays to their Mercurian project by planting Martian rock samples containing organic compounds there. These he allows to be discovered by Molina, who believes them to be authentically Mercurian and heralds them as a great discovery. Finally, he frames the Rev. Danvers for the trickery in order to also ruin his career, which succeeds flawlessly—to the extent that Danvers takes his own life. Yet things go awry for Mance when he confesses to Lara that it was he who set up Molina for the fall. However justified it may have been, Lara cannot accept it, nor can she return to Mance/Dante. Crushed, Bracknell turns the focus of his ruined life to consummating his final revenge on the leader of the Yamagata Corporation himself. However, it is in trying to slowly and agonizingly destroy the life of Yamagata, by exposing him to the brutal elements of the planet Mercury for a prolonged period of time, that Mance perhaps finally realizes that revenge has ruined him, and feels regret upon hearing of Danvers' fate. Furthermore, he had caught the wrong Yamagata; it was the son of the billionaire industrialist who'd been culpable in the skytower disaster. In the end, both Yamagata and Bracknell perish in the Mercurian wastes, but the reader is led to believe, through his last will and testament, that Bracknell in his final moments beat his demons and became human again by taping a confession of his schemes while waiting to die. At the same time, Yamagata, who was gladly willing to die if only to protect his son, tapes a message to his son, imploring him to continue his true work in taking humanity to the stars in the near future. ===== The series is centered on Charles-Henri Lamontagne, an elderly widower coping with the death of his wife, and his influence on his family in Montreal. Through the script, Janette Bertrand explores sensitive issues still taboo for the Quebec society in the late 1970s. ===== On the Sengoku era, the heroine Suzu is a girl who is continuously sought by spirits (mononoke). However, she has mastered techniques to protect herself, which she learned from the late Shinkurou, the man she calls "Toto-sama". One day during a trip she encounters an unknown spirit; her powers awaken and activate the power of the flute she carries as Shinkurou's memento. An unknown man who reminds her of Toto-sama appears before her eyes and the spirit is defeated. The enigmatic flute seems to have some secrets... ===== The story emphasizes the various characters' reactions to the event, according to their specific scientific backgrounds. Examples include a priest's speculations on the implications for religion, a psychologist's theorizing about the aliens' psyches, the scientists' consideration of the implications of the new knowledge for their own specialties, and the president's concern for the implications for national defense. The novel is set in an ongoing Cold War scenario. Unlike typical first contact stories, there is no dialogue between the senders of the message and mankind, as the received radio signals have traveled through space for one and a half million years. ===== The House of the Wolfings is a romantically reconstructed portrait of the lives of the Germanic Gothic tribes, written in an archaic style and incorporating a large amount of poetry. Morris combines his own idealistic views with what was actually known at the time of his subjects' folkways and language. He portrays them as simple and hardworking, galvanized into heroic action to defend their families and liberty by the attacks of imperial Rome. Morris's Goths inhabit an area called the Mark on a river in the forest of Mirkwood, divided into the Upper-mark, the Mid-mark and the Nether-mark. They worship their gods Odin and Tyr by sacrificing horses, and rely on seers who foretell the future and serve as psychic news-gatherers. The men of the Mark choose two War Dukes to lead them against their enemies, one each from the House of the Wolfings and the House of the Laxings. The Wolfing war leader is Thiodolf, a man of mysterious and perhaps divine antecedents, whose ability to lead is threatened by his possession of a magnificent dwarf-made mail-shirt which, unknown to him, is cursed. He is supported by his lover the Wood Sun and their daughter the Hall Sun, who are related to the gods. ===== Belgian scientist Bertram Hammonds, along with Gomez, who survived being injured in the first film, arrives in the Lost World to drill for crude oil. He and his men begin capturing the natives for slave labor, throwing Chief Palala off the top of the plateau. He survives and is rescued by Malu and taken to a nearby village. Word reaches Edward Malone and Jenny Nielson in England, who remind Professors Challenger and Summerlee of the promise they made to Palala: that they would return to the Lost World should they be needed. However the professors are having a feud. Challenger recently discredited Summerlee on a theory and now they aren't on speaking terms. With help from Jim, Malone and Jenny manage to bamboozle Challenger and Summerlee into coming along with each mistakenly believing they are commanding the expedition while the other is remaining in England. When they encounter one another aboard the steamship bound for Africa, they nearly come to blows. Upon arriving they are led to the base of the plateau by Malu, where she found Chief Palala. Above, attacks by dinosaurs have set back Hammonds' work. His drilling crews accidentally tap into a volcanic pipe during a tyrannosaurus' visit, triggering a volcanic eruption that threatens to destroy the whole plateau. The initial eruption destroys the plane they arrived in. Fleeing, Hammonds and Gomez take Chief Palala's daughter hostage and threaten to kill her unless the natives show them how to leave. Suddenly Challenger and the others arrive, having come the same way they left last time, through the caves. Challenger shoots and kills Gomez, and Hammonds is taken prisoner. After several adventures including clashes with the hostile drilling crew members, the group struggles to stop the erupting volcano. Challenger creates a new explosive, "Challengerite," with which to seal the volcano. Boxes of the explosive are put into a cave nearby but Hammonds chases Jim inside, not wanting them to set off the explosives. He tries to ply Jim with promises of wealth but Jim sets off the explosives, stopping the eruption and seemingly killing Hammonds in the process. Afterward, Summerlee congratulates Challenger on the Challengerite, and they muse on how much longer they can keep the Lost World safe from human intervention. ===== The story focuses on three children who run away from their orphanage and are rescued by Heaven Eyes, a strange, innocent child with webbed hands and feet. The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Heaven Eyes was rescued by the elderly caretaker of a gigantic old printing press and storage building. He raises her lovingly and she calls him her Grampa. He knows the secret to her history. He isn't telling. The orphans find themselves investigating the mysteries surrounding Heaven Eyes and her environment. During the time they spend with Heaven Eyes and Grampa, they begin to see the outside world as a land of "ghosts", as Grampa does. The children have to choose to stay in that eccentric, mysterious and possibly sinister world or to flee back to the mundane world and perhaps lose the hopes of spiritual healing they discovered in Heaven Eyes' world. But the outer world has changed too, in the short space of time they have been gone. Even in the old orphanage, new possibilities might emerge. ===== Jeannie has been a happily married housewife for 15 years to her astronaut husband Tony Nelson and has a teenage son, T.J. When Tony is promoted to Colonel and is about to retire from the NASA space program, Jeannie decides to give him a celebration party in their backyard. However, egged on by his colleagues to retire with a dramatic flair, Tony breaks his promise to Jeannie for one more space flight (aboard the shuttle), this time with a female astronaut, Captain Nelly Hunt. Jeannie is furious, so she decides to separate from her husband temporarily to be a more independent modern woman. In the meantime, Jeannie's always-scheming evil sister, Jeannie II is determined to have Tony for herself and she teams up with Haji, the chief genie (operating a fitness gym in the United States), to break up her sister's marriage. Jeannie II traps her sister in a bottle with a special stopper, that nobody but another genie could open. Meanwhile, Tony's space flight is in trouble; the engines won't fire and the shuttle is on a collision course with a meteoroid. When T.J. comes home and hears his mother trapped in the bottle, he attempts to open the bottle. At first, the stopper would not move, but his mother encouraged him to blink, like she does to invoke her powers. Jeannie encourages her son to concentrate and to blink again, this time the stopper moves. T.J. discovers that he had inherited his mother's powers and is a genie, himself. (Earlier on, T.J. sees his mother using her powers and she explains to him about his heritage, and revealing that she is a genie, and how she became a genie. She also blinked T.J. with her back to the day when she first met Tony.) After blinking, and releasing his mother from her prison, Jeannie and T.J. go to Haji, explaining the trick. Rules must have changed since 1970, because Jeannie now needs special dispensation from the chief of genies in order to do something major, like saving a human life. Haji gives Jeannie a magic amulet and tells her to blink three times during the full moon while holding it. If she does this, Tony and the shuttle crew will be saved. But the magic comes at a terrible price—every mortal that has ever known Jeannie and T.J., including Tony, will forget that they even exist. T.J. tells his mother that they will lose dad either way, so they might as well do it so Tony lives. Jeannie invokes her magic, saving the shuttle from certain doom, and it is able to return to the ground. However, Jeannie got Haji to agree to one final night together for her and Tony, allowing Jeannie to say farewell to Tony in her heart. The next morning, while Tony is asleep,Jeannie alters the bedroom and then the house to what it might look like if Tony was a bachelor. With T.J., Jeannie moves on with her life. The final scene shows Jeannie and Tony passing each other on the street, and Jeannie magically gets Tony's attention, indicating that they will in fact find each other again. Before the movie ends, Jeannie breaks the fourth wall and says to the viewers, "Haji made me agree to an ending. He never said there couldn't be a new beginning." The movie ends with Tony following Jeannie down the street. ===== Martin Drake meets Jennifer West in an auction house. Three years ago, he had fallen in love with her during a brief but intense encounter on a railway platform—after which she vanished. Now it seems she is engaged to Richard Fleet, whom she has known since they were children together. And when they were children, Richard's father Sir George died when he fell off the roof of their home, Fleet House. It was generally accepted as an accident, but a series of mysterious happenings cause the case to be re-opened. Sir Henry Merrivale, detective and explainer of the impossible, is also at the auction and revives his old antagonism with Sophia, Dowager Countess of Brale, who is Jenny's grandmother. Arthur Puckston keeps the pub across the road from Fleet House and was an eyewitness to Sir George's death. When his daughter, Enid Puckston, is found murdered in what might be a haunted prison, Sir Henry takes a hand and reveals not only the identity of the murderer but the unusual psychology that underlies the case. Category:1948 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== Sir Henry Merrivale, detective and explainer of the impossible, is visiting the United States. He has been invited to visit millionaire Frederick Manning, to "witness a miracle" at his country home. Manning's three children are nervous about a secret which their father has threatened to reveal very soon—although it is probably not his relationship with a lady named Irene Stanley, whom Manning freely admits he is "keeping". The morning after Sir Henry's arrival, and just as the house party hears police sirens drawing closer to the Manning home, Frederick Manning dives into the swimming pool, fully clothed, and vanishes. His clothes and hat float to the surface, but he is nowhere to be found. Sir Henry must untangle Manning's personal and business dealings and follow the trail of clues to find Manning and reveal a criminal. Category:1949 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:Locked-room mysteries Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== The English village of Stoke Druid in Somerset has been plagued by a series of vicious anonymous letters written by a poison-pen who becomes known as the "Mocking Widow", after a forty-foot high rocky feature on the outskirts of the village. A middle-aged spinster who has been tormented by the letters' suggestions of sexual immorality commits suicide. Sir Henry Merrivale is offered an incredibly rare volume of memoirs by the village bookseller if he exposes the poison-pen, and accepts. During the investigation, a young woman is frightened nearly to death by the Widow's threats to visit her in her bedroom—she sees the Widow in her bedroom at the time and place previously announced, in circumstances that seem impossible for anyone to have been there. Then a village blackmailer who may have been the Widow's assistant is murdered, and Sir Henry brings the series of crimes home to their perpetrator. Category:1950 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:Novels set in Somerset Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== Sir Henry Merrivale is on vacation in Tangier, but cannot resist the opportunity to meet the challenge of a world-class criminal known as "Iron Chest", who always carried an ornate iron chest during his thefts. No one knows what Iron Chest really looks like, or how he manages to vanish without a trace after his thefts. After a red-carpet welcome from the local constabulary, Sir Henry becomes friendly with two young English couples resident in Tangier and works closely with them to solve the mystery of Iron Chest's identity. Category:1952 American novels Category:Novels by John Dickson Carr Category:Novels set in Tangier Category:William Morrow and Company books ===== In the Kingdom of Carnava, in an age when magic supports everyday life and civilization itself, peace is maintained by the queen's knights and the Rev Magic Association. Sixteen years before the game's story begins, monsters called Beast Fiends start to appear, destroying everything in their way. Mattias, leader of the Magic Association, uses the evil Demon Blade to try to seal the source of the fiends, but is sealed away himself by the elemental witches. At the time of the game setting, new Beast Fiends have been appearing, and the government overextends its forces trying to protect the entire kingdom. Meanwhile, Fatimaa powerful witch of the Association with control of the rare Shadow Frost Magicgoes rogue and starts a conflict with the Association, causing more trouble for the Kingdom. Trying to solve the crisis, the kingdom starts a clandestine research project whose aim is to produce an easier way to use magic. The story starts when the kingdom has just successfully completed the research project, and devised a tool known as the "Runic Engine". Roland, a knight in training, is accidentally imbued with this new power, and fights the Beast Fiends, Master Mattias and the Shadow Frost Witch. In the course of the game, he discovers that the Rev Magic Association had covered up Mattias' turn to evil. However, he does not realise that Mattias did this to try and save the world, rather than destroy it. He later discovers that Bharva, king of the Fiends, was manipulating events, and joins with Fatima to prevent the Mage Queen Elicia, creator of the Fiends, from overrunning the world with them. The player has a choice of having a romantic relationship with Fatima or Althea, and end game parts of the story, including the ending, will change depending on the player's pre-battle dialogue choices. ===== At Telford Old Hall, the past is a constant reminder in the present. Long-dead Cavalier Sir Byng Rawdon still haunts the house, and lately has been making his ghostly presence known, it seems. During his lifetime, he etched a poem into a leaded-glass window with a diamond that is a showpiece of the historic house, along with the heavily jeweled Cavalier's Cup, a family heirloom. When Sir Henry Merrivale and Chief Inspector Masters arrive to debunk the ghost, Masters agrees to spend the night in the Oak Room with the doors locked and windows latched. Masters falls asleep and, when he wakes up, he finds that the Cavalier's Cup has been moved from the locked safe and left standing on a nearby table. Also, Sir Byng's sword, which was hanging outside the Oak Room, has been placed at Masters' feet. Sir Henry and Masters must cope with Telford Old Hall's present-day inhabitants, a visiting American Congressman and Sir Henry's singing teacher in order to reveal who is behind the ghostly manifestations. ===== Mr. Sebastian is a former Oxford professor, who in the late 60s directs the all-female decoding office of British Intelligence. One day, while running through the streets of Oxford to attend the bestowing of an honorary degree on his friend the Prime Minister, Sebastian runs into Rebecca (Becky) Howard and her jeep. After insulting Sebastian on the spot, Becky is intrigued by him and follows him to the ceremony. After Becky is able to spell her own name backwards, he gives her a phone number to call if she wants an unspecified "job." Becky calls the number, and after Sebastian's personal assistant Miss Elliott describes the job as being part of the "civil service," Becky is turned off by the idea. Overcoming her concerns, she calls again, and after a successful interview, obtains a job deciphering codes used by secret agents and foreign spies. Once settled in her new job, Becky slowly starts to fall for the aloof Mr Sebastian. However, problems arise when Gen. John Phillips, Head of Security, accuses Sebastian's senior Jewish decoder Elsa Shahn of being a poor security risk, because of her left-wing Communist leanings. Sebastian convinces the Head of Intelligence to retain Shahn despite Phillips' objections, expressing how vital Shahn is to the decoding office and reaffirming that she enjoys his full confidence. Eventually, Becky and Sebastian engage in an affair, which upsets Sebastian's longtime girlfriend (and washed-up pop singer) Carol Fancy. Ultimately, Shahn betrays Sebastian's trust by providing recently decoded information to a left-wing political organisation. When confronted with the security breach by the Head of Intelligence and by Phillips' watchdog Jameson, Sebastian tenders his resignation and breaks up with Becky, thinking she was on to him. He leaves London and returns to his teaching position at Oxford University. Months later, Sebastian is visited at Oxford by the Head of Intelligence, who convinces Sebastian to return, temporarily, to the decoding office to help the Americans decipher some unidentified signals emanating from a Sputnik-type Russian spy satellite circling the earth. To prepare for this assignment, Sebastian visits a secret British eavesdropping installation, where he meets the American Ackerman (Donald Sutherland), who is working on the project. One day, while looking for Becky, who has also left the decoding department after Sebastian's resignation and break-up, Sebastian runs into Carol, who invites him to a party at her apartment "for old times sake". At the party, Sebastian is drugged with LSD and lured to the top of the building by Toby, who unknown to Sebastian, is both Carol's lover and a foreign agent. Just as the hallucinating Sebastian is about to jump off the building ledge to his death at Toby's insistence, he is saved by Gen. Phillips, who had been tailing both men, and Toby is arrested. Sebastian returns to the decoding office, and finds out where Becky lives. While visiting Becky, Sebastian discovers that he is the father of her newborn baby. During this visit, a noise from the baby's rattle provides Sebastian with the solution to the Soviet spy satellite's signals, which he eventually breaks with the help of his faithful group of decoding girls, who are summoned to Becky's apartment to decipher the Soviet code. ===== The cartoon opens in 1849, with narration by Robert C. Bruce, over a spurious map showing a sliver of land on the Eastern Seaboard labeled "USA", with all land to its west labeled "INJUN JOE'S TERRITORY". Porky Pig is leading a wagon train to California and he must keep an eye out for the Herculean Native American "Super Chief", Injun Joe. The name is a play on the famous Santa Fe train run of the same name (a frequent reference in WB cartoons), and reinforced by each character spouting smoke and crying "Woo-woo!" like a steam locomotive, each time they say Injun Joe's name. It is also a nod to an antagonistic literary character from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Porky and Injun Joe are repeatedly interrupted by a goofy bearded hillbilly named Sloppy Moe (a play on "Sloppy Joe"), who keeps repeating, "I know something I won't tell, I won't tell, I won't tell!" to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down. This goes on until Injun Joe corners Porky with tomahawk in hand, and Sloppy Moe sings his refrain once more. Injun Joe grabs him and demands, "What you know, Huh???", and Sloppy reveals his secret at last, "Injun... Joe... is... ticklish!", and proceeds to prove that by tickling the chief with his hands and beard. The Native American goes into a raucous laughing fit. Distracted, he backs off a cliff and falls deep into the ground, pulling the surface down with him, and causing the map seen at the beginning of the cartoon to stretch the "USA" sliver across to the west coast, so that it now reads "UNITED STATES of AMERICA" from west to east. The cartoon closes with the narrator returning to lionize the cartoon's heroes, Porky and Sloppy Moe, and irises-out with Moe tickling the giggling Porky. ===== The prologue depicts the arrival in London of Mr Golspie, who has come by steamship from an unnamed Baltic country. He discusses his immediate plans with the crew. The first chapter contains a detailed description of a fictional street in the EC postcode area called Angel Pavement, and the employees at Twigg & Dersingham. Business has not been good, and Mr Dersingham is trying to decide whom to sack. Mr Golspie arrives with a dispatch case containing a sample book of veneers and inlays, and asks to see Mr Dersingham. After a short delay, he is admitted to Mr Dersingham's office, and there is a long discussion, after which both men leave mysteriously. Mr Smeeth is baffled, especially when Mr Dersingham rings up and tells him to sack their senior traveller, Mr Goath. The second chapter introduces the tobacconist T. Benenden, and shows Mr Smeeth's family and home life. The next morning, Dersingham still has not returned to the office, and during lunch Mr Smeeth hears an unpleasant story about the failure of an umbrella firm called Claridge & Molton. He wonders if Mr Dersingham's absence indicates that they are all about to lose their jobs. But at five, Mr Dersingham returns and informs Mr Smeeth that the newcomer has offered a cheap supply of veneers from the Baltic, and their immediate future is assured. The next evening, Mr Golspie takes Mr Smeeth out for a drink at the White Horse, and tells him he ought to ask for a rise. A new typist is employed, Poppy Sellers, and Mr Dersingham invites Mr Golspie to a black tie dinner party at his home. The party is not a success, firstly because of the incompetence of the servants and secondly because of the unexpected arrival of the daughter, Lena Golspie, who quarrels with Miss Verever and Mrs Dersingham. The fourth chapter depicts one of the miserable weekends of the lonely young clerk, Mr Turgis, who wanders around London taking in any amusements he can afford. On the Monday after, he sees Lena Golspie for the first time, and is smitten. The fifth chapter depicts the narrow world of the typist, Miss Matfield, and her disastrous date with Norman Birtley, which is enlivened only by an accidental meeting with Mr Golspie, who gives her a box of chocolates on a whim. Later on Mr Golspie seems even more glamorous, when, shortly before leaving for a short trip, he asks her to take down letters on board the moored steamship Lemmala, and pours her some vodka. Mr Smeeth obtains a rise in salary, and after talking to Benenden, he celebrates by going to a concert at Queen's Hall, where he enjoys Brahms's First Symphony. On returning home he finds out that his daughter Edna has been sacked, but he is not terribly dismayed; he admits to his wife that he has been given a rise, something which he had been planning to keep secret. On Saturday night his wife's cousin, Fred Mitty, and his family, arrive for a party, and Mr Smeeth quickly comes to loathe them after they wreck the parlour and damage some of his clothes. Mr. Turgis has become obsessed with Lena Golspie, and jumps at a chance to see her again when he delivers some money from her father. She is bored, and takes him out to the cinema, flirting with him afterwards. They go on a second date, but she does not turn up to a third date, and he is devastated. Mr Golspie returns shortly before Christmas, goes away again on Christmas Eve, and returns again in time for New Year's Eve, on which he contrives to take Miss Matfield out for the evening. They begin to go on dates secretly. Mr. Smeeth falls out with his wife, and is later disturbed by the departure of the office boy Stanley and a road accident involving the tobacconist Benenden. His son George seems to be employed by crooks, and Mr Golspie makes an arrangement with Mr Dersingham which strikes Smeeth as suspicious. He goes to visit Benenden at the hospital. Mr Turgis is consumed with jealousy, and one Friday night he turns up unannounced at Lena's home and fights with her. Thinking he has strangled her, he wanders at random through London before arriving at Twigg & Dersingham, where Mr Golspie and Miss Matfield are "working late". He admits everything in despair, and they drive to Carrington Villas, but Lena is not there – she has run off. Mr Golspie sacks Mr Turgis. He returns to his rented room and considers suicide. The next morning, Poppy Sellers arrives to deliver his last pay packet, and they have a long talk which reconciles him to the idea of spending time with her. In Chapter 11, Mr. Dersingham breaks the news to Mr Smeeth that Mr. Golspie has swindled them all and fled; the firm faces imminent bankruptcy. Mr. Dersingham returns home, obviously tipsy in front of their friends, and his wife is infuriated. But when she is fully informed of what has happened she feels a surge of energy. Mr. Smeeth returns home, and finding the Mittys there, throws them out, an action which restores his energy, as does unexpected sympathy from Mrs Smeeth. The epilogue depicts the unabashed Golspies shipping out from London, on their way to South America: "A string of barges passed them...a gull dropped, wheeled, flashed, was gone...the gleam faded from the face of the river; a chill wind stirred; the distant banks...retreated; and even the smoky haze of London city slipped away from them..." ===== In the midst of a war on Earth, a rocket port in New York sends a few colonists to establish a village on Mars. The Bittering family, (father Harry and mother Cora and their children Dan, Laura, and David), arrives as part of the few colonists chosen for the first wave. Harry is initially disquieted by the Martian environment, but they take comfort in the fact that the family can return to Earth when resupply ships arrive. Strange events begin to affect the life brought as part of the settlement effort, including the seeded grass sprouting purple, the family cow growing a third horn in the middle of its head, and other anomalies with the vegetable garden. Harry's discomfort on Mars increases and the thought of returning to Earth on the next resupply mission soon becomes his only comfort, much to the concern of Cora. This comfort is taken away as Bittering is informed that the war has led to an atomic bomb devastating New York City and destroying the only spaceport capable of supporting travel to Mars. Resolving to build himself a rocket home, Harry isolates himself from his family and the townsfolk, who have begun to show signs of transforming into Martians as their limbs and bodies elongate, their irises become shimmery gold, their skin darkens. One night, Iorrt, the Martian word for Earth, comes into his head, even though he never learned it anywhere. Harry staves off the transformation as he only consumes food and water brought from Earth, but the supplies run out and he is forced to eat Martian food to survive. Soon enough, Harry notices his eyes have turned gold. Cora convinces Harry that a family swim in the canals of Mars would do him good to relax, and he hesitantly agrees. While there, their eldest son, Dan, requests to be referred to by the Martian name Linnl. Harry and Cora, now almost entirely Martian, agree easily, and the other two children quickly adopt Martian names as well. As they return to the town, the Bitterings discover that the colonists are retreating to the ancient Martian villas in the mountains, as the summer has made the valley stiflingly hot. Harry briefly expresses a wish to stay and work on his rocket but is easily persuaded to go with the rest of the colonists and come back when the weather is cooler. Five years later, the United States, having won the war and rebuilt New York, sends a small military dispatch to recover the colonists sent to Mars, only to find their settlement abandoned. The soldiers instead encounter a large Martian settlement in the mountain villas, where the native Martians are pleasant and have a remarkable affinity for English. Convinced they had nothing to do with the original colony's disappearance, the group agrees to attempt a second, larger settlement using the town built by the first. ===== The grandma's boy is a timid coward who cannot muster courage to woo his girl and is afraid of his rival. His loving grandma gives him a magic charm from the Civil War that had been used by his grandfather, which gives him the courage to capture a town criminal and win the girl. The "magic charm" turns out to be the handle of her umbrella and his grandma was pretending it was magical all along. ===== The film opens with the following quote: "Heaven hath no rage like love to hatred turned." which is incorrectly attributed to Milton (quote is from William Congreve's The Mourning Bride). At a mental institution in Paris, Doctor Rameau (Oscar Homolka) discusses with the British consul the case of a man who identifies himself as Ward Andrews. The doctor believes Andrews to be English and wants the consul's assistance in verifying this. Outwardly the man may seem sane, but underneath he suffers from paranoia, suicidal tendencies and is capable of murder. The doctor takes the consul to meet Andrews, but they discover he has escaped. George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman Phillip Monrell (Robert Montgomery) and his former college roommate Ward Andrews (George Sanders) run into each other in London and Monrell invites his old friend back to his family home. When they arrive, they meet Stella Bergen (Ingrid Bergman), the secretary of Phillip's mother (Lucile Watson). Both men are strongly attracted to her. She is friendly with the more responsible, hardworking Ward but prefers and marries the idle Phillip instead. Ward leaves for a job in Scotland. Phillip is put in charge of the family steel mill but is not suited to the position. He begins to exhibit signs of mental illness, in particular, abnormal suspicion that his wife and Ward are in love. Despite this jealousy, he invites Ward for a visit and hires him to be the chief engineer at the mill. Eventually, Phillip's paranoia drives him to try to kill his perceived rival at work. Ward confronts him, admits his love for Stella, quits the steel mill, and returns to London. After a frightening moment with her husband, Stella leaves him and goes to Ward. Phillip promises to grant her a divorce if Ward will return to talk with him in person. Having prepared a plan designed to frame Ward, Phillip provokes a loud argument with him which he knows is being overheard by a servant. Afterwards, Phillip kills himself, after ensuring that Ward will be arrested for murder. Ward is convicted and sentenced to be executed. The day before the execution, Stella is visited by Dr. Rameau. He has seen a photo of Phillip in a newspaper and informs her that her husband was a patient who masqueraded as Ward Andrews and escaped from the institution. He is convinced that Phillip committed suicide and that he would have left some message bragging about it. Phillip's mother reveals that her son kept diaries; then, Clark (Aubrey Mather), the butler, remembers that he mailed a package to Paris the night Ward visited and Phillip died. Stella and Rameau take a flight to France and find the book, which exonerates Ward. ===== Set in the fictional European kingdom of Lutha, the protagonist is a young American named Barney Custer, of Beatrice, Nebraska, who is the son of an American farmer and a runaway Luthan princess, Victoria Rubinroth. Unaware of his royal blood, much less that he is a dead ringer for his relative Leopold, the current king of Lutha, Barney visits Lutha on the eve of the First World War to see for himself his mother's native land. As he arrives in Lutha, King Leopold has just escaped from his ten years' imprisonment at the hands of his scheming uncle, Prince Peter of Blentz. Much to his own and everyone else's confusion, Barney is naturally mistaken for the king, leading to numerous complications. Barney meets and falls in love with Princess Emma Von Der Tann, Leopold's promised bride and then becomes intimately involved in Luthan affairs, working to help the king and ultimately allowing himself to be proclaimed as king while impersonating Leopold to prevent Prince Peter from seizing the throne. He finally succeeds in foiling Peter's plans to become king himself by rescuing and fighting for the real king. Unfortunately, after his coronation, King Leopold discovers the shared love between Barney and Princess Emma, and Barney is forced to leave Lutha, mimicking the flight of his father years earlier, though his father left with a princess—Barney has only a soldier. Thus ends part one. In the second part of the novel, the European skies are darkening as World War I has begun. In Lutha, King Leopold has proven himself to be a bad ruler and has not yet persuaded Princess Emma to marry him. In Nebraska, Barney's soldier friend leaves the farm to return to Lutha. Barney himself is attacked by one of Prince Peter's henchmen and he decides to return to Lutha as well. After an adventurous trip across war-torn Europe, which includes being mistaken for a spy by the Austrians and barely escaping a firing squad, Barney finally reaches Lutha, where he once again is forced to impersonate the king in order to save Lutha from the advancing Austrians. He makes a diplomatic alliance with Serbia, and defeats the Austrians in person, thereby saving Lutha. The real king Leopold, who has been his antagonist throughout the second part of the novel, is mistaken for Barney and killed by one of Prince Peter's henchmen. Barney then consents to remain as king of Lutha, married at last to Princess Emma. The Mad King was serialized in All- Story Weekly in 1914. ===== Zingarina (Asia Argento), a rebellious Italian girl who travels to Transylvania with her best friend Marie (Amira Casar) and a young interpreter, Luminita (Alexandra Beaujard), seeking her fiancee and father of the baby she's expecting, Milan Agustin (Morgan), who has been expelled from France, the country where they had met and fallen in love. She knows he's a travelling musician and plays in a gypsy band. Zingarina finds Milan at the winter "Herod's Carnaval" (Festival of customs and traditions) but he tells her that their love story is over. The girl, angry and crushed, doesn't want to return to France or Italy. Marie is angry too so she fires Luminita because she thinks they have to leave from Transylvania. Zingarina exploits a temporary absence of Marie (the woman was at a phone-cabine) for running away from her (leaving a note only), in order to go after Vandana, a vagrant little girl. In her aimless travel through the boulevards and the villages, Zingarina meets Tchangalo (Birol Unel), a charming travelling merchant of Turkish descent. Between them there's a kind of comprehension and solidarity; then a love feeling. Even if Tchangalo is a man without borders and without ties, he accepts Zingarina (even the idea of forming a family with her); Tchangalo also accepts Zingarina's baby, even if he's not his natural son. ===== The novel is set amongst the villages of the Igbo people in Colonial Nigeria during the 1920s. Ezeulu is the chief priest of the god Ulu, worshipped by the six villages of Umuaro. The book begins with Ezeulu and Umuaro fighting against a nearby village, Okperi. The conflict is abruptly resolved when T. K. Winterbottom, the British colonial overseer, intervenes. After the conflict, a Christian missionary, John Goodcountry, arrives in Umuaro. Goodcountry begins to tell the villages tales of Nigerians in the Niger Delta who abandoned (and battled) their traditional "bad customs" in favour of Christianity. Ezeulu is called away from his village by Winterbottom and is invited to become a part of the colonial administration, a policy known as indirect rule. Ezeulu refuses to be a "white man's chief" and is thrown in prison. In Umuaro, the people cannot harvest the yams until Ezeulu has called the New Yam Feast to give thanks to Ulu. When Ezeulu returns from prison, he refuses to call the feast despite being implored by other important men in the village to compromise. Ezeulu reasons to the people and to himself that it is not his will but Ulu's; Ezeulu believes himself to be half spirit and half man. The yams begin to rot in the field, and a famine ensues for which the village blames Ezeulu. Seeing this as an opportunity, John Goodcountry proposes that the village offer thanks to the Christian God instead and they may harvest what remains of their crops with "immunity". Many of the villagers have already lost their faith in Ezeulu. One of Ezeulu's sons, Obika, dies during a traditional ceremony, and the villagers interpret this as a sign that Ulu has taken sides with them against his priest. For this apparent judgement against Ezeulu and the promised immunity by the Christian God, at the Christian Harvest, taking place a few days after Obika's death, many men embrace Christianity by sending their son there with yams. The title "Arrow of God" refers to Ezeulu's image of himself as an arrow in the bow of his god. ===== In the 21st century, a nuclear war turned most of the Earth's surface into a desert wasteland, which also resulted in the contamination of the Earth's water supply. A man named Sanga has built the fortified haven of the "Last Land", where he rules as its dictator by monopolizing the city's uncontaminated water supply. When he learns that the neighboring residents of Freedom Village are trying to dig up a well for their own, Sanga sends his underlings to sabotage their effort. Kenshiro, master of Hokuto Shinken, gets involved in the conflict between the two regions after saving Tobi, an informant hired by Freedom Village. ===== It's 1958 and Bruce Stevens is a buyer for a national warehouse chain who passes through his hometown of Montario, Idaho whilst en route to Boise on business. His reason involves hormones more than nostalgia, however, as a one-time girlfriend named Peg lives there now. It is at a party at her place where he meets, and quickly falls into a relationship with, a strangely familiar older woman who turns out to be one of his former, and least favorite, elementary school teachers, Susan Faine. She simultaneously hires him on as manager of her typewriter shop. Travelling salesman Milton Lumky informs Bruce of a warehouse full of imported, Japanese-made surplus typewriters, and so Stevens drives to Seattle to see this potential bounty for himself. He belatedly discovers that the typewriters all have Spanish language keyboards, and so he tries to pass these hot potatoes down along the line to his former warehouse employer. He reveals his nefarious intentions to Susan, who passes the information onto the warehouse chain which nevertheless decides to take them off his hands at a fair but unprofitable price for Bruce. He then enters a period of waffling and indecision, ultimately deciding to try altering all of the machines himself and selling them at the shop. Returning to Boise he informs Susan of his decision and sets to work, only to return the next morning to find that Susan has fired him and all of the typewriters are being loaded into a truck by one of his former co-workers at the warehouse chain. Distraught by this turn of events he rents a room and recalls one of his first encounters with Susan as his fifth grade teacher which evolves into a day dream about the pair opening up shop in Montario and ultimately moving to Denver following the purchase of an expanded facility there and living happily ever after. ===== Sometime between 1958 and 1962, Leo Runcible, a Liberal Jew, is working in the real estate field. On learning that Walt Dombrosio, Leo's neighbor, has had a Black visitor to his house in a "lily-white" suburb of Marin County, California, potential purchasers interrogate Runcible about the matter and ultimately incur his wrath over their narrow-minded bigotry. He thereby fails to close the deal and forfeits their friendship and a precious commission as well. But according to Leo's tortured logic it is Walt who's at fault for this unforeseen little debacle. So in retaliation Runcible opportunistically reports Dombrosio's later episode of drunk driving, leading to the loss of the latter's motor vehicle operator's license for a period of six months. Walt's wife Sherry then drives him to and from work every day, eventually landing a job working alongside her husband. Walt, however, being as he is an insecure, misogynistic, manipulating headcase, quits his own position over this incident and continues to fume over it as the weeks and months roll by. He eventually humiliates and manhandles his wife in front of their neighbors as a prelude to forcefully impregnating her with an unwanted child which she unsuccessfully threatens to abort. At the same time, Runcible has found what he believes to be Neanderthal remains in Carquinez, Marin County, and envisages rising property prices due to incipient archaeological interest and the avalanche of media coverage that naturally follows. As it turns out, however, Dombrosio is the culprit who modified and planted the modern human remains there to begin with. They are a legacy of the local 'chuppers' who developed facial, cranial and spinal deformations as a supposed result of the pollution of the local water supply. The novel ends around Christmas - Dombrosio's situation is at status quo ante: Sherry now back in the house and five months pregnant, having decided to forfeit her job in the city to keep the baby Dombrosio forced on her. He overhears a Christmas party in progress at the Runcible's home, and briefly contemplates visiting to end his dispute with Runcible before deciding against it. Dombrosio is then visited by a vision of a future with his little family several years later, after Sherry has presumably given birth to a malformed baby boy due to the possible teratogenic properties of the local water supply. This vision leaves Dombrosio shaken, as his wife realizes he shares the same fears about their unborn child. Runcible faces bankruptcy, having decided to purchase the local water company to ensure high standards of water availability for the community. The purchase of the water company has cost Runcible considerably and he is unable to make the monthly payments due on his home. Despite his principled choice to serve clean water to the community regardless of the cost to himself, he remains consumed with anger and resentment against the local community for their ingratitude at his efforts to improve the area. ===== In 1960, 58-year-old Jim Fergesson decides to sell his Oakland-based auto repair business and retire. This threatens to greatly inconvenience his business tenant, used car salesman Al Miller, who rents a lot from Fergesson to sell his battered but superficially reconditioned old jalopies. Chris Harmon, an entrepreneur, advises Fergesson to invest in a new super-garage located in Marin Country Gardens. Jim takes a fall in the mud and has a minor heart attack during a visit to the property to personally verify its existence. Miller is convinced that Harmon is corrupt and makes an amateurish attempt at blackmailing him over his alleged (then-illegal) sale of salacious audio recordings. At the same time Al enters employment with Harmon as a curiously unqualified salesman of Classical Music. This, as it turns out, was an innocent administrative error. Al's actual assignment now involves the mass marketing of Barbershop Music. He sees conspiracies, machinations and double-dealings where there are none and strives mightily, but ultimately fails, to disrupt the final contract-signing between Fergesson and Harmon by playing on old Jim's paranoia. The strain of it all takes its toll on a recently injured, weakened, ailing Fergesson and he dies later that night at home. Al then discovers that his used car lot has been ferociously vandalised, although the exact time and date remain uncertain. This plays an unexpectedly important role in the unfolding of subsequent events. Things are not quite what they seem, and coincidence plays a starring role here. His wife Julie quits her job and they run off together across Nevada, whilst Lydia, Jim's widow, discovers that her late husband's deal with Harmon was, contrary to what Al had sincerely believed, completely legitimate. Al is temporarily detained after Lydia threatens to sue him for fraud. Julie leaves him forever. In a moment of true serendipity Al starts a new relationship with his married real estate vendor, a vivacious, attractive "colored" woman by the name of Mrs. Lane. ===== Nick, his family, and cat Horace leave Earth in 1992, because pet ownership has been criminalised on that world. Arriving at their new home, Plowman's Planet, the family encounter a series of mishaps at the hands of the planet's varied indigenous inhabitants. A wub carries their luggage, but eats a map, while werjes attack Horace, but their family befriend the aliens, leading to a gift, which turns out to be a history of Plowman's Planet itself. They make the acquaintance of the non-indigenous alien Glimmung, who secures travel for them in return for his lost history of their adopted world. The Graham family encounter duplicates of themselves, and trobes steal Horace. Nick tries to find his pet, but locates their driver, slain in a car accident, and still possessing the book. Nick has it copied, wounding the Glimmung, who rediscovers it. Nick then finds Horace with a Nick duplicate, and the cat chooses his original owner over the simulacrum. ===== Lee Scoresby, a 24-year-old young Texan aeronaut, and his dæmon, the jackrabbit Hester, make a rough landing in Novy Odense, a harbour town on an island in the White Sea, in Muscovy. After paying for the storage of their balloon, Lee and Hester make their way into town, where Lee notes with surprise the presence of bears: some working, some just loitering about. He enters a bar to get something to eat and drink, and falls into conversation with a local journalist, Oskar Siggurdson, who explains that an election for Mayor of Novy Odense will take place later in the week. Siggurdson tells Lee that the overwhelming favourite — not the incumbent mayor, but a man called Ivan Dimitrovich Poliakov — has as a central policy a campaign to deal with the bears which hang around the town. Oskar mentions that the bears, once a proud race, now rank as "worthless vagrants". Lee learns with amazement that these bears are intelligent, can speak, and make and wear their own armour, though laws make it illegal for the bears to wear their armour in Novy Odense. At this point Lee intervenes in a conflict elsewhere in the bar, preventing the barkeeper from beating a drunk Dutch captain called van Breda, who has a ship tied up in the harbour but does not have permission to load his cargo and leave. Lee and van Breda get thrown out of the bar. Lee finds lodgings at a boarding-house and meets some of the fellow-guests over the evening meal: a young librarian called Miss Lund, a photographer, and an economist called Mikhail Ivanovich Vassiliev. Lee and Vassiliev attend a meeting at the town hall organised by the mayoral candidate Poliakov. Armed men in purple uniforms patrol the meeting: Lee takes them for customs officers. Vassiliev corrects him, explaining that they are security men from Larsen Manganese, a large mining company that are in league with Poliakov. Vassiliev mentions that they have a large gun they are looking to use in a riot situation, but their conversation is interrupted when Lee runs into Siggurdson. Siggurdson introduces him to Olga Poliakova, Poliakov's daughter. While he is initially attracted to her, Lee is put off by her lack of intelligence. Lee falls asleep and therefore misses Poliakov's speech, but once it is over Siggurdson insists on introducing Lee to the politician. Poliakov offers to employ Lee as a mercenary, to help him take care of a situation at the harbour. Lee is about to agree when he spots another of Poliakov's associates, a man Poliakov introduces as Pierre Morton. Lee recognises the man, whom he met using the name Pierre McConville. Lee met McConville while working for a rancher called Lloyd, who got into a boundary dispute with a neighbour. This neighbour hired McConville to kill Lloyd's men one by one, including Lloyd's nephew, Jimmy Partlett, who was shot dead in front of a number of witnesses. Only one of these witnesses was willing to tell the truth in court, and when McConville was acquitted by a corrupt jury he shot the witness dead in the street and rode out of town. He was rearrested and sent to the capital of the province with an armed escort, but vanished en route. Recognising Morton as this enemy from his past, Lee turns down Poliakov's offer of employment, and leaves. In the middle of the night, back at the boarding-house, Lee hears Miss Lund crying and asks the cause. Miss Lund cryptically asks for his advice on a matter of honour. Lee gives his advice as well as he can understand the situation, to Miss Lund's gratitude. Lee returns to his bed baffled about what has just happened, but Hester berates him, saying that Miss Lund has obviously received a proposal of marriage, and Lee advised her to accept. At breakfast the next morning Vassiliev explains that Miss Lund has a sweetheart in the Customs Office. During their conversation, Lee realises that the situation that Poliakov wanted him to deal with is most likely connected to Captain van Breda. Lee heads down to the harbour to investigate. He runs into van Breda again, who has still not been allowed to load his cargo. The two men head to a bar for a drink. Lee learns that van Breda's cargo, mining equipment and rock samples, is being held on a legal technicality, and will be impounded and sold at auction unless he loads it by the next day. Unfortunately, van Breda is being prevented from loading his cargo. The captain insists that Poliakov is waiting for his cargo to be impounded and will then buy it at a low price at auction. Lee, disgusted by Poliakov's behaviour, offers to help break into the warehouse and stand guard while van Breda loads his cargo. Van Breda gratefully accepts, and the two head for the harbour. On the pavement outside the bar, Lee is waylaid by one of the bears, who introduces himself as Iorek Byrnison. Iorek also offers to help van Breda, to get back at Poliakov. Iorek puts on the only piece of armour he currently has – a battered helmet – and the group set off, attracting a large crowd of onlookers as they near the harbour. Talking his way past the Harbour Master, Lee stands off against a group of men guarding the warehouse. Lee shoots one of them in the hip, knocking him into the water. The other men pull him out and then scatter. At that point the Larsen Manganese men deploy the riot gun mentioned by Vassilev earlier, but before they can do anything with it Iorek overturns it and pushes it into the harbour. With Iorek's help, Lee breaks into the warehouse. Van Breda gives him the Winchester rifle kept on-board his boat, and Lee heads up the floors to deal with the two gunmen positioned up there. He shoots the first in the shoulder and gets into a firefight with the second. The wounded man tries to strangle Hester, but Lee shoots him dead. The remaining gunman turns out to be Morton, who manages to shoot Lee in the shoulder and ear. Taunting him with the story of how he killed his armed escorts – by tying one of them to the ground, binding his daemon to a horse and forcing the two apart to an unbearable distance, causing the man to die an agonising death – Morton moves in for the kill, his snake daemon advancing ahead of him. Hester pounces on Morton's daemon and drags it towards Lee, forcing Morton to come stumbling out of his hiding place in pain. Lee shoots him in the chest, declares this revenge for what happened to Jimmy Partlett, and then shoots him dead. Outside, Larsen Manganese security men led by Poliakov have surrounded the warehouse. Before they can do anything, a group of Customs officers led by Lieutenant Haugland arrive, disperse the soldiers and crowd, and arrest Lee. Van Breda leaves with his ship and cargo, insisting that Lee keep the rifle as a token of thanks. It emerges that this is the same rifle Lee has when he is killed in his final gunfight, thirty-five years later. Haugland takes Lee back to the depot where his balloon is stored. On the way he explains that there is little the Customs board will be able to do to punish Poliakov, but they are still grateful to Lee for acting as he did. His balloon has been provisioned and made ready for departure, with all his belongings brought from the boarding house. Iorek arrives, and tends to Lee's wounds using bloodmoss. Lee has lost part of his ear. Oskar Siggurdson also arrives, but Lee pushes him into the harbour rather than giving an interview. Lee prepares to leave, thanking Haugland for his help. Haugland says that he should thank Miss Lund, who has just agreed to become his fiancée. Vassiliev comes running into the depot, warning them that Larsen Manganese men are on the way with orders to kill Lee and Iorek. Lee suggests the bear should escape with him on his balloon, and the armoured bear agrees, saying that the aeronaut is obviously a man of the Arctic. When Lee asks what he means, Iorek points to his daemon as an Arctic hare, much to Hester and Lee's surprise. The balloon then leaves and Lee, Hester and Iorek fly away together. The book ends with Lee remarking that he was amazed to learn Hester is a hare, to which she replies, "I always knew I had more class than a rabbit." ===== In this film based on the Broadway musical, Victor Florescu (Ramon Novarro) is a composer desperately trying to get his operetta to opening night. First his leading lady (Vivienne Segal) leaves, taking the bulk of their budget with her. Then the male lead splits, leaving Victor to fill his role. Next he calls upon an old love, songstress Shirley Sheridan (Jeanette MacDonald) to be his ingénue, but she insists that she is leaving the theater to marry her affluent but unfaithful fiancé (Frank Morgan).Green, Stanley (1999) Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.), pub. Hal Leonard Corporation page 29 ===== Ruby Corey, a poor backwoods girl living in the small North Carolina town of Braddock, is still in love with Boake Tackman. During high school, Ruby had rebuffed his aggressive advances, and was taken in for a couple of years by a kind wealthy businessman and his wife, who protected her and taught her the skills a lady would need. She moved back home when her father needed her help. Boake's family used to be wealthy, but after generations of profligacy all he has left is the land he has had drained and farmed. He starts a relationship with her but plans to marry a local woman with a rich family. When she hears the news, Ruby marries her former benefactor, Mr. Jim Gentry, whose invalid wife had recently died, despite not loving him. Her background keeps her from being accepted by most of Jim's peers, most of whom decline to attend their after-wedding party. While at another party, Jim gets into a fistfight with Boake after witnessing him dancing with Ruby. Jim calls Ruby a tramp who looks like a lady but doesn't behave like one. She leaves in tears, and later that night, he apologizes. The next day Jim and Ruby go sailing, where he tells her he "doesn't mind being second best" and she admits she really does love him. A loose rope results in Jim being knocked overboard by the boom, leaving Ruby widowed and distraught. The local paper writes that she is a gold-digger who murdered Jim for his fortune and mentions the fistfight between Jim and Boake. Jim's friends renounce her and she receives accusatory phone calls and harassment from the townspeople. Ruby uses Jim's money to begin a campaign against everyone who slighted her, calling in debts to close down people's businesses as well as the newspaper that slandered her. Her brother comes to beg her for leniency, but she throws him out, warning she is just getting started. When Boake visits, she gives him the promissary-note he had signed and which was acquired by Gentry, and offers to run off with him, but he rejects her, saying that for all her money she can't buy her way out of the swamp, and she can't buy him. Ruby has Boake's land flooded, ruining the crops. After seeing her fury, he goes back to her. Boake and Ruby go to her father's annual duck-hunting party where she goes back to her country roots and Boake drinks away his resentment before visiting her room late at night. While hunting the next day, Boake turns on Ruby in retaliation for her actions but she apologizes. Just then, her estranged brother Jewel Corey begins to shoot at the couple while quoting Bible verses about the wickedness of women and sinners who must be struck down. They try to hide in the swamp but Jewel shoots Boake in the abdomen, killing him; Ruby goes after Jewel and guns him down. Cradling Boake in her arms, Ruby laments her decisions. Ruby later becomes the skipper of a fishing boat, forever looked down upon by the townspeople. ===== A young English man is convicted of the murder of one Captain Hamilton of the Royal Air Force and sentenced to hang, His sister and her fiancé, convinced of his innocence, ask visiting detective Charlie Chan to investigate and find the real murderer. In order to solve the mystery, Chan must visit a lavish English country manor house, where the suspects vary from the housekeeper to a lawyer. Events soon indicate that the murderer is still actively trying to avoid capture, but Charlie Chan must set a trap to reveal the criminal's identity. He turns out to be Paul Frank, a spy masquerading under the name Geoffrey Richmond, who had murdered Captain Hamilton to steal plans of a military invention Hamilton had made. ===== ===== Charlie Rockit's aunt and uncle is in danger of losing his farm because he needs $50,000 to replace their broken tractor. To raise the money, Chuck E. Cheese, Jasper T. Jowls, Mr. Munch and Helen Henny decide to race in the Galaxy 5000 on the planet Orion (to which they travel via Pasqually's Awesome Adventure Machine). They face many challenges, including a racing vehicle that is practically junk, a duo of cheating competitors known as the X-Pilots, and a woman named Astrid whom Chuck falls for but who's only interested in the prize money. Everything seems to go from bad to worse for Chuck, but just when he is at his lowest point, he meets a hermit named Harry who gets him to believe in himself and helps him train for the race. During the race, Chuck overcomes the cheaters' maneuvers, getting stuck in a forest, and his own self-doubts to reach the finish line. After winning the prize, Chuck and his friends head home. ===== Sergeant Peter King and Private Leslie Cuthbertson of the Royal Army Dental Corps passionately desire to see active service, but are held back. Armed with two revolvers and a handful of grenades, they plan an unauthorised mission to occupied France. They write to the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, explaining their intention to fight the Germans. After they finally succeed in getting to France, they stumble across a German radar station. They blow up what they take to be the main operations room, and then the entire compound unexpectedly erupts with gunfire and explosions. They narrowly evade the Germans and escape in a boat which is later blown up by a mine; the men are picked up by the British and interrogated as possible spies. Once their identities have been established, they are returned to barracks to be court- martialed as deserters. An aide of Churchill had seen their letter, and knew of a commando raid on the radar facility which was facilitated by a diversion due to mysterious explosions in what they discover was actually the cookhouse. The aide intervenes in the court martial, establishes their presence at the enemy radar station and conveys an invitation to tea with the Prime Minister should they ever be in Whitehall. The court nevertheless demotes Sergeant King to the rank of corporal and remands Private Cuthbertson to military prison for 28 days, lenient sentences for desertion in wartime. A note on screen tells the viewer that the men never meet again. ===== Efisio Mulas is a meek laborer who lives with occasional work, especially in Don Leandro Sanna's salon, and rounds up the slim balance by betting with colleagues in strength with the game "head against head". In the village the Sanna and Porcu families' conflict has lasted over a century. The normality of the events is broken by the release, for the amnesty wanted by the pope, of the beautiful Domenicangela Piras, the turbulent girlfriend of Efisio convicted for having hurt him with a billhook. At the same time the old man of honor, Agostino Sanna, is about to instigate his nephew Don Leandro to kill Alvaro Porcu. Don Leandro does not intend to support his uncle, so it takes time, insinuating that Alvaro Porcu has been hiding in Supramonte for fear of him. Efisio marries Domenicangela having, finally, obtained the consent of her father required by the priest, the fugitive don Liberato. Meanwhile, Agostino Sanna decides to haunt down Alvaro to kill him, but succumbs. Leandro, walking to stop his uncle, attends to his death, and, disgusted, to avoid the continuation of the vendetta, decides to move into his estate, seeking for peace. Efisio needs money and decides to steal sheep from the estate, but the watchdog pulls him out of his pants. During the wedding celebrations of Efisio and Domenicangela, she gets rid of those pants, throwing them in the street. The marshal of the carabinieri find them, and, having seen the bites of the dog and the blood left on them, immediately arrests him. Efisio runs away and decides to flee in Milan. Meanwhile, a new event is about to reopen the vendetta: Giovanni Sanna, Leandro's younger brother, challenges on public square Alvaro Porcu to take revenge for Uncle Agostino, hitting his face with a glove. Don Leandro is furious, because at this point he is under threat from the revenge of Egidio Porcu, brother of Alvaro and the last surviving adult male of the family. The family risks to remain with no males. He proposes then an exchange to Efisio: he will return to Sardinia to kill Egidio Porcu, and Don Leandro, in return, will witness his innocence in the murder of Uncle Agostino. Efisio agrees, but he is incapable of killing, and, when he is back in Sardinia decides to meet his wife only. At the same time Egidio Porcu is killed by an unknown hand. At Efisio's trial, he is declared not guilty and then he can return in his village as a free man, but he finds a hostile atmosphere. Dominicangela, in fact, is pregnant and everyone is questioning the identity of the father. For Efisio there is then a tragic dilemma: to reveal that he is the father of the about to be born (and confess his presence in the village on the day of the murder of Egidio Porcu) or undergo social stigmatization. When Don Leandro turns his back on him, Efisio turns to Don Liberato, who makes him understanding the name of the true assassin of Egidio Porcu. Efisio then attempts to involve a young carabiniere to make him witness the man's confession, and, during a country party, tries to tease him. But precisely at the crucial moment, the assassin of Egidio Porcu expresses itself in Sardinian. The carabiniere does not understand a word, and immediately after, the murder is killed by a rival. Efisio has no option than killing the innocent Domenicangela and end up in jail. Only in this way it is possible to end this endless conflict between families and regain the respect of the people of his village. The film ends with the sad imprisonment of Efisio with the people of his village paying him the so sought-after respect. ===== 14-year-old Ellie Christianson lives in an affluent neighborhood with her parents, Karen and Ben, and younger sister, Inger. Beneath their privileged lifestyle is one tinged with dysfunction and chaos. Ben is a workaholic with a hectic schedule that keeps him away from home for most of the day. Karen, meanwhile, passes the time by pursuing an illicit affair with the family's next door neighbor, Lawson Smith, while her daughters are getting ready for school. She impulsively fires Lena Anderson, her housekeeper, as a means to spending some free time with Lawson, and is completely unaware that a shocked Ellie has secretly witnessed one of their liaisons. Karen has an ongoing tumultuous relationship with Ellie, culminating in a heated confrontation one day after the older daughter disobeys an order to not wear too much makeup at school. Ellie ends up remorselessly killing her mother in a fit of rage. She selfishly begins to assume her wifely duties to Ben by waiting for him in bed at night, dressed only in lingerie. However, Ben gradually develops some romantic feelings for the former housekeeper, Lena, and they eventually marry. The impromptu wedding ceremony ignites feelings of jealousy for Ellie as she wanted all along to be his wife. While the supposed "love triangle" is playing out in Ellie's twisted mind, her mother's tragic "accident" is investigated by Detective Boland. When Karen's "accident" is subsequently ruled as a murder, he names Ellie as the prime suspect. She immediately decides to run away from home, going to Portland with her dead mother's lover, Lawson, in tow. After her family goes on an hours-long fruitless search for Ellie, she unexpectedly returns to the house. She is greeted by Inger, who knows full well what had really happened to her mother. Inger ends up murdering Ellie, essentially inheriting her "wicked" nature. ===== The film portrays the corrupt administration of an Apulia town during the fascist regime of 1937, after it has learned, in a roundabout way, of a pending anonymous visit of a government inspector from Rome. The inspector will determine if the administration adhered to the government's strict guidelines for economic and social planning. The threat of the inspection creates terror in the administrators, who fear their misdeeds will be revealed. Most fearful are those guilty of enriching themselves from public funds, and other abuses. They resort to pathetic staged measures to make it appear that they remained "honest administrators" and "good fascists". An unsuspecting insurer, Romeo Battifiori, arrives in town and is mistaken for the inspector. He is made the object of every honour and, of course, is utterly deceived. Eventually, the real inspector arrives. ===== French gangster Abel Davos, having been tried in absentia and sentenced to death, flees to Italy with his wife and their two children. After a successful holdup in Milan with an accomplice Raymond, they try to re-enter France by boat, but while landing at a deserted cove by night are surprised by two customs officers. After a gun battle which leaves the customs men, his wife and Raymond dead, a massive police hunt begins. Hidden with his two boys in Nice by a former associate, Abel rings Riton, an old ally in Paris, asking him and his friend Fargier to come and collect him. Riton now runs a bar and Fargier a hotel; neither wants to risk his life or reputation for a lone wanted man. However they buy an ambulance and recruit a young gangster called Éric to bring Abel and his children back in it. On the way, Éric saves a young woman Liliane, who is being attacked by a man, and she agrees to pose as a nurse for Abel, who is bandaged to conceal him. Back in Paris, his friends tell Abel there is little more they can do for him. Éric however is sympathetic to the man's plight and, after hiding him in the building where he lives, helps him place his children with family friends. He also gets him a false passport but Abel, needing money to escape, robs the fence Gibelin. Unable to go to the police, Gibelin consults Fargier and Riton, who are both under police pressure because of their past association with Abel. They hire a private detective to find Abel's hideout, but Abel captures the man and forces the truth out of him. Realising he is betrayed, Abel starts his revenge by killing first Gibelin and then Fargier, whose wife then dies of shock. Riton, whose wife has always mistrusted Abel, co-operates with the police. As they storm Abel's hideout, Éric creates a diversion and is shot in both legs. Though Abel gets away, an epilogue says he is later caught, tried and executed. ===== When the Titanic sinks, infant Dorothy Hunter (Miriam Hopkins) is left an orphan. She is brought up by John Connors (Henry Stephenson), whose wife was also lost in the disaster. He goes to such great lengths to protect her privacy that, though she has grown into adulthood and acquired the title of the richest girl in the world, the newspapers do not have an up-to-date photograph of her. She returns to America, but her friend and secretary, Sylvia Lockwood (Fay Wray), impersonates her in a meeting with the managers of her fortune. After seeing how happy Sylvia is with her new husband, Phillip (Reginald Denny), she broaches the topic of setting a wedding date with Donald (George Meeker), her longtime fiancé. He is forced to admit that he has fallen in love with someone else and was getting up the nerve to tell her. Since she is not the least bit in love, she congratulates him. However, it is too late to cancel the party in which she had planned to announce their wedding. At the party, Dorothy and Sylvia continue pretending to be each other. Dorothy meets Anthony "Tony" Travers (Joel McCrea) and, after winning $60 from him playing billiards, takes a great liking to him. However, stung by Donald's confession that he was never sure he was attracted to her or her money, Dorothy decides to see if Tony would prefer her to the woman Tony thinks is her. She does all in her power to encourage him to court "Dorothy", even lending him money to do so. Connors warns her that she is being foolish, that no man could resist choosing such a seemingly wealthy and beautiful woman, but Dorothy is adamant. Sylvia and Phillip reluctantly play along. Tony is invited to a weekend retreat. Connors, Sylvia, and Phillip arrive a day late, using the bad weather as an excuse to give Dorothy time alone with Tony (though there are plenty of servants at the mansion). By this point, Dorothy is deeply in love. Tony tells her how much he likes her, but then adds that the richest girl in the world "wouldn't have him anyway". Unable to bear being his second choice, she tells him that he would probably succeed if he proposed, so he does. Sylvia, having been forewarned by Dorothy, accepts him. That night however, Tony sees Phillip sneaking into Sylvia's room. The next morning, he breaks the engagement. Dorothy claims that Phillip came into her bedroom, putting Tony to the ultimate test. When Phillip shows up for breakfast exceptionally pleased with himself, Tony punches him. Then, finally realizing who he really loves, he picks Dorothy up and carries her off to get married in spite of what he believes she did the night before. ===== The Scarecrow is a concept album about the tragic story of a lonesome creature, emotionally isolated from his environment and suffering from a distorted sensory perception. His feelings for the love of his life unrequited, he sets off on a journey exploring his left-hand path, striving for inner peace, ploughing his way to approval and eventually facing temptation at the inner depths of the human soul. The story continues on the albums The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. ===== The game begins at the Boltaire Museum, which houses a precious gem known as the Eye of Infinity. The gem, however, was stolen and Ratchet is at the scene of the crime. Skeptical about his involvement, Clank infiltrates the Museum to find out more about the precious Eye of Infinity. But much to his dismay, Clank finds only coordinates to Asyanica Rooftops. Meanwhile, in jail, Ratchet is forced to fend off his inmates in a battle to stay alive. Clank travels to the Asyanica Rooftops, but is held captive. He contacts the agency Gadgebots to free him. Once freed, he sets to find information about Number Woo, the owner of Asyanica. Although he admits he took the Eye of Infinity, he actually gave the gem to a fellow villain, Countess Ivana Lottabolts. While this is happening, concurrently Captain Qwark is writing an autobiography about the adventures that never happened. He defeats a monster terrorizing the city. Meanwhile, Clank heads to her snowy domain and asks her for the Eye, but in the process is challenged to a dance of death, After avoiding all the traps during the dance, Ivana says the Eye has been taken to Rionosis and it is in the possession of a Kingpin. Armed with the information, Clank escapes on his snowboard. En route to Rionosis, Clank gets a distress call that Ratchet is in trouble. Ratchet is forced to fend off more inmates in the Prison Cafeteria. Clank lands in Rionosis and begins to tail the Kingpin; however, he escapes. Clank is forced to jump on numerous gondolas to reach safety. Clank finds out that the Eye is taken to the Casino. Concurrently, Qwark arrives in Rionosis to continue his autobiography where he defeats the Jack of All Trades. Meanwhile, Clank reaches the Casino's Main Room however he is denied entry due to his not having a password. Back in jail, Ratchet reencourters Slim Cognito (a shady weapon tradesman met in Going Commando). Slim trades the password with Ratchet on condition that he defeats his associates. Once he is successful, Clank gets the password and is challenged to a game of poker in exchange for the box goods he saw earlier in the Casino. But once again the gem has been taken to another destination, this time in the Venantonio Labs. At the end of Venantonio Labs is a scientist who was ridiculed for his inventions. With the help of the scientist, Clank escapes on a speedboat to Fort Sprocket, the real location of the Eye of Infinity. Concurrently Qwark arrives in Venantonio and "reminisces" his days of performing in the mermaid play. In the prison showers, Ratchet meets the Plumber who was called to fix a broken pipe. He accidentally throws the pipe to another fellow guard. Enraged, the guard, together with the fellow inmates engage in battle yet again. Meanwhile, Clank reaches Fort Sprocket. He makes his way to the main vault but is trapped. He contacts the agency Gadgebots to release him. Once inside he finds the Kingpin went to the Spaceship Graveyard. Clank ventures into the Graveyard and the kingpin finally reveals himself – it is Klunk (his doppelganger from Up Your Arsenal). Klunk proceeds to destroy Clank he manages to escape on a Giant Clank Pad. Qwark arrives in the Graveyard and talks about his adventure in saving the orphanage nuns. Meanwhile, there is chaos in the Jail and Ratchet is forced to defend the other inmates from the enemies. Clank manages to locate Klunk's base of operations on Hydrano. It turns out it is an underwater base. After exploring, Clank finally is face to face with Klunk. Klunk reveals he wanted success by destroying every planet in the universe but saving it in time by Clank (who resembles Klunk) the plot thickens when Klunk will make it seem as if the fake Klunk (Clank) destroys the planets only for Clank (portrayed by the real Klunk) to thwart his plans. They engage in battle. Midway through the battle. Klunk says the Eye of Infinity is poised in the center of the universe, either way if Clank or Klunk dies, Klunk will still succeed in his plans. Qwark manages to move the Eye from destruction and saves the galaxy. The game ends with Ratchet and Clank back in their Megapolis apartment using a vacuum cleaner which resembles Klunk. The camera focuses on the vacuum cleaner's filter. The eyes reactivate, implying he is still alive. ===== Agent Russell Edward 'Rush' Blake (Pat O'Brien) is able to promote the singing tenor waiter Buddy Clayton (Dick Powell) as a major radio star whilst Buddy's wife Peggy Cornell (Ginger Rogers) loses out. In the end, Peggy does not lose Buddy to his "twenty million sweethearts" – his female fans.allmovie ((( Twenty Million Sweethearts > Overview ))) ===== In Crater Lake, Northern California, Dr. Richard Calkins is informed by his colleague Dan Turner that he and his girlfriend Susan Patterson have made an incredible discovery in a nearby cave system. The three head down and discover a system of cave drawings, including what appears to be a depiction of people fighting off a Plesiosaurus, thus providing evidence that dinosaurs existed at the same time as humans did. However, a flaming meteorite crashes into the lake just overhead, resulting in a cave-in that destroys the cave system and the drawings, while the three scientists are barely able to escape alive. The local sheriff, Steve Hanson, sees the meteorite crash and radios in the incident before continuing on his patrol. Several months later, Sheriff Hanson meets with the three scientists to go search for the meteorite. Turner and Patterson dive down to the bottom of the lake, only to find out that the meteorite is still too hot to recover and has resulted in the entire lake becoming significantly warmer than before, rising to approximately ninety degrees. Somewhere else on the lake, a birdwatcher is setting up his equipment when the monster suddenly rises out of the water, moves onto the shore, and kills him. Two friends, Arnie Chabot and Mitch Kowalski, running low on money, decide to start a boat rental service. Their first customer is U.S. senator Jack Fuller, who rents a rowboat for a quick fishing trip for $20. However, he is attacked and killed by the monster. Arnie and Mitch see the empty boat drifting in the middle of the lake and go out to retrieve it, finding only some large blood stains inside the boat. They bring the boat back to shore as evidence for the Sheriff. Then the sheriff finds many dead animals, and takes the case. Some time later, a performer named Ross Conway and his wife Paula are on their way to a show when their car suddenly begins to break down. They stop at a gas station and learn from the mechanic that their car won't be repaired for several more days. The attendant tells them that the fastest method of transportation at this point is by boat across the lake. The couple heads down to Arnie and Mitch's dock to rent a motorboat for $25 and head out. While out on the lake, they are attacked by the monster, but manage to outrun it due to the boat's motor and run it aground. When the monster pursues them onto the shore, Ross empties the can of gasoline into the boat and sets it ablaze, fending off the monster. Arnie and Mitch, as they walk away from renting the boat out to the couple, begin to argue about their boat-renting service. Mitch claims that he is tired of being bossed around by Arnie, and the two eventually fight. Their scuffle leads to the water, where the two discover the severed head of Fuller floating in the lake just as the Sheriff arrives. As he takes in the head for evidence, he orders them to stay away from the lake, and to not use any more boats. Realizing that the couple from earlier is still out there, Arnie and Mitch head out in another boat to search for them. They eventually discover the charred remains of the motorboat and the distraught couple, both too mortified to explain what happened to them. The couple is taken away in an ambulance, and the Sheriff issues a stern warning for Arnie and Mitch to not head back out onto the lake. At the local diner, the sheriff spots a man who is wanted for armed robbery in the nearest town. During the crime, the clerk and another customer were killed. The sheriff pursues the suspect into the forest. After the suspect drives his car off a cliff and jumps out, the sheriff pursues him on foot. The chase eventually leads them down to the shore, where the Sheriff shoots the suspect in the knee, before stopping to hide behind a tree and reload his weapon. During the brief pause, the monster snatches the suspect, dragging him under the water. The sheriff does not hear the attack happen, but he discovers a large blood stain on a nearby rock. Meanwhile, Calkins's autopsy report comes in, and the coroner notifies the sheriff that the wounds were caused by an animal's teeth and that the attacking animal is not only of a significant size, but also lives in the lake. When the sheriff returns the next day to the location where the robbery suspect went missing, he finds several massive footprints before the monster suddenly emerges. He fires all six shots in his revolver at it, before jumping into his car and driving away. He tells Calkins, Turner, and Patterson about the incident, and his description of the monster fits that of a plesiosaurus. While the three scientists are excited at the idea of a living dinosaur in the lake, the sheriff is determined to kill it before more lives are put at risk. The sheriff, Calkins, Turner, and Patterson host a town meeting in the diner the next day, informing the town of the danger and what they plan to do to stop the monster. Arnie and Mitch ultimately take the scientists' side in favor of keeping the monster alive, saying it'll bring in a significant amount of money for the town. However, a man named Ferguson is attacked by the monster and barely manages to make it to safety inside the diner. The Sheriff, Turner, Patterson, Arnie, and Mitch all head outside to confront the monster, which is just outside the barricade of farming vehicles and a wall of hay bails. The Sheriff starts up a bulldozer, but Arnie attempts to stop him at gunpoint, saying that the monster must live. The Sheriff convinces him that nothing will stop the monster without killing it, and Arnie jumps in the back, shotgun at the ready. As the monster draws closer, Arnie panics and attempts to flee, only to be caught and killed by the monster. The Sheriff slams into the monster with the bulldozer, causing it to drop Arnie's corpse. When it reaches its head down to try to pick up Arnie's body again, the Sheriff drives the bulldozer forward and repeatedly slams into the monster's neck, finally killing it. In the aftermath of the battle, the Sheriff, Calkins, Turner, Patterson, and Mitch all mourn Arnie's death, with Mitch vowing to continue the boat rental service that he and Arnie started, softly repeating "our boats...our boats." ===== An eccentric millionaire, Cadmus Cole, visits the newly founded offices of Ellery Queen, Confidential Investigations, in a rare incidence of disembarkation from his yacht. The investigation company is actually the brainchild and sole responsibility of his partner, "Beau" Rummell, an established private eye. The eccentric Mr. Cole pays $1,500,000 as a retainer to hire Ellery Queen for an investigation—the details of which he refuses to divulge, saying only "You'll know when the time comes." Upon his departure, he leaves behind a well-chewed fountain pen with which he's signed the retainer cheque. Almost immediately, Ellery's appendix bursts, and Cadmus Cole is reported dead and buried at sea. Rummell, in the guise of Ellery Queen, begins to investigate both the circumstances of Cole's death and his heirs; he soon meets two beautiful young women and the case becomes complicated by romance and the appearance of a claimant under the will. When the claimant is murdered, and Rummell married to one of the beauties, the real Ellery Queen must take a hand and solve the case, using the vital clue of the chewed fountain pen. ===== The film tells the story of a young boy, Miles Caraday (Marquette), a jazz piano prodigy who has Tourette syndrome, and his divorced mother Laura Caraday (Draper)."The Tic Code - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes." The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-06-30. Miles has a school friend, Todd (Desmond Robertson) who seems not to be bothered by Miles' condition. Miles wants to become a jazz pianist against the wishes of his classical-oriented instructor Miss Gimpole (Carol Kane).The Tic Code (1999) - Plot summary. ImDb.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-30. At a local nightspot, Miles becomes friends with a jazz saxophonist, Tyrone Pike (Hines), who also has Tourette's but learned ways to cover up his condition.Thomas, Kevin. "The Tic Code - Entertainment, Gregory Hines, Fairfield County". The Baltimore Sun, 2000-08-03. Retrieved on 2008-06-30. In the film, Tyrone tells Denny Harley who bullies Miles that the reason they both tic is: Tyrone: [...] because we both know the code. Denny: [...] Code, what code? Tyrone: [...] 'the tic code'. Denny: So you and Miles made this whole thing up? Tyrone: No, the C.I.A. did; a lot of people know about it now. ===== When a huge earthquake devastates a town in the French Pyrenees, a bear escapes from a circus in the confusion and later finds a small girl whose mother has been killed in the quake. The bear rescues the girl (and her teddy bear) and raises her as his own cub like a female version of Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli, high in the inaccessible mountains, naming her “Pyrénée” after them. They came to a place where little Pyrénée took off his collar to set the bear free, and found the cave. Later on she also learns philosophy and wisdom from a blind old eagle, taught herself as a hunter and a fisherman, and eventually - like Mowgli - has to try to make her way back to human society. ===== Sakura, upon the spring of her first year in middle school. Her mother, Fumiko, and her stepfather died in an accident when she was three; the grandmother who raised her has just recently died. One day, however, Sakura comes home and is suddenly embraced by four men aged seventeen through twenty-five. They claim to be Sakura's half-brothers, and give her a letter from her grandmother that leaves her in their care. It is soon revealed that Sakura holds no actual blood relation with the four, as their father didn't meet Fumiko until she was already pregnant with Sakura. Nevertheless, they manage to convince Sakura that their love for her as a sister is sincere. For the next few years, Sakura and her brothers live as family, experiencing the range of familial activities: sibling fights, school plays, discoveries of old family secrets, trips to festivals, and more. Soon after graduating from middle school, Sakura discovers she is in love with her oldest brother, Masashi Miyashita. ===== Frank Machianno, a retired San Diego mafia hitman, cut his ties with the Mafia many years ago. However, one day, his past catches up with him as the boss of Los Angeles family calls in for a past favor. Frank must oversee a meeting between the Detroit Combination and the Los Angeles crime family. Unfortunately, the meeting is revealed to be a "set-up", a scheme to kill Frankie. Someone from Frank's past wants him dead, and Frank has to find out why, how, and when. The problem is that the list of candidates is sizable, and Frankie is rapidly running out of time. ===== Otello Celletti (Alberto Sordi) is an unemployed ex-soldier from a small town in Latium. Since the end of the war, he has been living with his family and father at the expense of his brother-in-law, Nando. One day he receives a letter that says he has been given a job as a carrier in the town's markets, despite his request to join the local police. Unwilling to accept the new job, he manages to meet the town's Mayor (Vittorio De Sica) and get the position he sought for. As a policeman, Otello can finally take revenge on all who had been teasing him during the post-war period when he was a jobless man, but soon starts having trouble with his duties. Incapable of directing the traffic properly at a rather busy crossing, he is moved to a peripheral area where his tasks are much easier and gets here the occasion he has always been waiting for: one day he is told by a man passing by that a car got stuck not far from there and that the car is no less than Sylva Koscina's (in the role of herself). He hurries to the spot and makes friends with the actress, managing to invite her for a coffee at a near bar, and after repairing her car (he actually only makes the situation worse and is then forced to call his little son who is a mechanic) asks Sylva to greet him on television at that night's broadcasting of the program Il Musichiere (the Italian version of Name That Tune). Although the woman is missing her driving license and car documents, he lets her go, looking forward to the moment when she will make his name in front of 18 million viewers. At Il Musichiere, that night, Sylva greets Otello publicly and dedicates to him her performance of Adriano Celentano's Il tuo bacio è come un rock, but can't help saying whom Otello is and why she knows him, revealing also how he let her go when he should have fined or even arrested her. Otello is eventually called up by the Mayor and told how grave what he has done is, and that he is at risk of losing his job if he fails to fulfill his duties again: as a policeman, in fact, he must act according to law and make no distinctions. Some time after, Otello is in the workplace when a car passes by exceeding the 50 km/h speed limit in the area by 15 km/h. Driving the car is no less than the Mayor himself. Remembering what he had been told the day before and believing he is merely being tested by the Mayor, he gives him a speeding ticket and, as the Mayor drives away, follows him. He thus finds out the Mayor has a secret love story, despite being married. However, when he inspects the house where he thinks he will catch the man he is told by a woman (the Mayor's secret partner) that he is wrong and that there is no Mayor in there. The day after, despite being advised by his superiors not to proceed and fine the Mayor, he does so, confident of being in the right, revealing also about the possible skeletons in the Mayor's closet. The Mayor decides therefore to punish Otello, who soon gets fired, and chooses to go on trial rather than paying the fine. The town is, however, close to elections, and the disappointed policeman, unemployed again, is made the candidate of the Monarchist National Party, which opposes the current Mayor and uses Otello's case as evidence that the current government does not operate justly. Certain to have the whip hand, he threatens the Mayor, declaring he will cause his government to fall and get elected himself, to which the Mayor replies by showing Otello secret information about him that he and his party have collected. The information concerns his family, specifically his sister, who was thought to be a masseuse living in Milan and is instead a prostitute, his marriage, which is not a legal one for his wife's ex-husband is still alive, and his father, who shot the King during the war, an action that would be considered an outrage by the monarchists. Fearing for the consequences this information might cause if revealed to the public, Otello decides to finally give up, and on the next day's trial he admits, pretending, that he was wrong in fining the Mayor, a mistake that was caused by a broken Odometer, and that such a man as the Mayor himself can't but be always right. The final scene goes to show how common people are unable to compete with the powerful, and must, in the end, submit. ===== While a British film crew are shooting a version of The Duchess of Malfi in Venice, they in turn are being filmed by a sleazy documentary primadonna while the strange hotel staff share meals which consist of human meat. The story expands to involve a hit man, a call girl and the Hollywood producer. The film itself makes several mentions of the Dogme 95 style of filmmaking, and has been described as a "Dogme film-within-a-film." ===== Kay is an abstract visual artist who has been plagued since childhood by a series of disturbing dreams. The intensity and frequency of the dreams have fluctuated over the course of her life, as has their content; some of her dreams are simply of glimpses of desolate locations that leave her feeling dread upon awakening, while others feature the gruesome deaths of her friends and loved ones at the hands of a supernatural force. Recently, her dreams have become more frequent and disturbing than ever, resulting in a shift in the quality of her work. Afraid that the dreams are aggravated by stress and depression, and fearful that her newfound success may be slipping away, Kay's family and friends plan a vacation for her to a small island off the coast of Georgia. Accompanying Kay are her husband David; Kay's brother Eric, who introduced her to David; and Eric's wife Brooke. As the couples' plane prepares to land, their pilot, Marsh, informs them that he's just received notification that an Atlantic hurricane has shifted course towards the island. Marsh hurriedly drops the couple off, telling them that he has to leave the island before he's stranded there. The couples discover that, against expectations, the island is deserted, and populated largely by derelict buildings and the ruins of a once-thriving resort town. Kay informs the rest of the quartet that the island is the place she has been dreaming about since childhood, and that they are all in danger if they stay. Unable to leave due to the hurricane, the others try to assuage her fears. The following evening, David is murdered by an unseen assailant, and Kay dreams of waking up next to his severed head. That day, she finds David's decapitated body hanging in an abandoned playhouse on the island. Eric believes that Marsh never left the island and brought the couples there to kill them, a supposition that is granted some support when Marsh is later seen on the island. Kay believes that the island has allowed her dreams to cross over into reality, and that the creature from her nightmares is responsible—a theory supported by the fact that the deaths only occur when Kay is asleep. Additionally, it becomes apparent that Kay herself may be the killer, murdering in the throes of a somnambulistic trance out of repressed resentment towards her loved ones. As night falls, Eric goes to retrieve flares from a boathouse, and is murdered on the beach before being dragged into the ocean. Later, Brooke is attacked in the boathouse and impaled with a pitchfork. After finding their bodies on the beach, Kay barricades herself in the beach house and struggles to stay awake, incessantly drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes to remain stimulated. In the middle of the night, Marsh attempts to gain entry into the house. Kay shoots him with a flare gun which kills him and sets the house on fire. In the chaos, Kay discovers a flaming, skeletal creature waiting for her at the front door. As the grotesque creature approaches her, Kay—as a child—is woken up on Christmas morning by her parents. Kay tells them that she had a nightmare and describes the events of the film; it is unclear whether the scene is a flashback or if the film itself was merely a nightmare. After telling her parents about the dream, Kay's father presents her with a black cat, and Eric enters the room. Kay looks at the cat and becomes visibly frightened. ===== Jennie Lee is the lead singer of an all- girl rock band in Baltimore named the Mystery. At her high school graduation, Jennie gives her valedictorian speech at the ceremony while fellow band member, bass guitarist Daryle is accepting a marriage proposal from her high school sweetheart Frankie. Jennie and the band are planning to go to Florida to audition for a gig at a nightclub in West Palm Beach, Florida for the summer. However, problems seem to plague their plans when, first Jennie's older brother (and caretaker) doesn't want to let Jennie go because he feels it will dissuade her from continuing her college plans; second, the band's keyboardist has unexpectedly left the band, and third, Mooch (the drummer) insulted a gang member who then in turn destroyed the band's van. Mooch tells the band that she borrowed another van from her friend but in fact, assisted by the help of guitarist Billy, she stole the gang member's personal van. After recruiting a male keyboard player Nicky, the band heads south to audition for the gig. Arriving at the nightclub after closing hours, the band fears they have missed their audition. Not wanting to have to return, the band finds the owner Martin Falcon's home address and decide to make him listen to them play. However, when they arrive at his beach house, they let themselves in and find Falcon is not home. They do find Hamlet, Falcon's pet Doberman Pincher dog, who, after Billy sings him a song, becomes fast friends with the band. Falcon arrives, drunk and assumes the band are thieves. Explaining who they are, Jennie pleads with Falcon to listen to their music, but Falcon informs them that they are in fact a day early, the auditions for the gig isn't until the next night. Having very little money and no place to stay, Falcon offers them the room that the winners are supposed to be staying at for the summer. The "room" turns out to be a tool shack with room enough for 5 beds. The next night, the band auditions and the overwhelming applauding crowd response convinces Falcon to hire the band for the summer. The band members stick out like a sore thumb in the preppy beach side area they temporarily reside in, especially Mooch, who refuses to take off her black leather jacket, although the weather is hot. Daryle (who has broken up with Frankie) started dating a local rich boy and tried to get the band invited to his parties. Billy, outside her comfort zone, started taking more pills than usual to cope with her depression. Jennie encouraged Mooch to spend time with Nicky, who seemed to have a crush on her and Jennie began a romantic relationship with the older Falcon. Falcon tells Jennie he has a music agent friend who books bands for gigs all over Europe, and is going to be coming to the club to watch the band perform. Falcon, after learning from Jennie that she is considering moving in with him, breaks up with Jennie because he doesn't want her to give up any opportunities because of him. Billy nearly overdoses and Frankie causes a small riot when he goes to the club and sees Daryle on stage being ogled by the local guys. On the night the music agent goes to the club, Jennie runs out just after performing a song written by Falcon especially for the band and the street gang finally catches up with Mooch for stealing their van. The band all help out Mooch as she fights off the leader and finally Hamlet the dog chases the gang from the club, who are then arrested. When asked about what the music agent said, Jennie implies that the agent loved their music but she turned down his offer for the band to play in European clubs. Upset with Jennie that she would turn down such a huge opportunity, Nicky explains to the rest of the band that the music agent did not want the band, he only wanted Jennie to stand in front of studio musicians. But Jennie decides that it wouldn't have been any fun without them. Jennie says goodbye to Falcon and the band heads home with Hamlet now a part of the band. ===== Ellery Queen moves into the small town of Wrightsville, somewhere in New England, in order to get some peace and quiet so that he can write a book. As a result of renting a furnished house, he becomes peripherally involved in the story of Jim Haight and Nora Wright. Nora's father is president of the Wrightsville National bank, "oldest family in town", and when the head cashier Jim Haight became engaged to his daughter Nora, he built and furnished a house for them as a wedding present. That was three years ago—the day before the wedding, Jim Haight disappeared, the wedding was called off, and the "jinxed" house became known as "Calamity House". Ellery rents it, just before the return of Jim Haight, and the wedding is soon on again. Ellery finds some evidence that Jim is planning to poison Nora and, after the wedding, she does display some symptoms of arsenic poisoning. But it is Jim's sister Rosemary who dies after drinking a poisoned cocktail. Jim is tried for the murder and it is only after some startling and tragic events that Ellery reveals the identity of the murderer. ===== Mrs. Cornelia Potts is the elderly matriarch of the Potts family, and their large fortune was earned by the manufacture of shoes, so when a murder mystery takes place at their New York estate, it's not surprising that the newspapers refer frequently to "the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe". Cornelia has had two husbands—one deceased, one living in the household—and three children by each. Her children by her first husband are all extremely eccentric. Thurlow Potts engages in dozens of lawsuits to protect the family honor; Louella believes herself to be a great chemist and inventor, a sentiment shared by no one else; and Horatio, an adult, is determined to live the lifestyle of a child of six. By contrast, her other three children by her second husband are relatively sane—the twins Robert and Maclyn, who run the business, and the beautiful Sheila. Thurlow's lawyer Charley Paxton is engaged to Sheila and invites Ellery Queen to dinner at the Potts mansion to meet the family. Thurlow challenges Robert to a duel, using revolvers from which the bullets have been carefully extracted but, when the duel is fought, Robert is shot dead because the bullets have been returned to the gun. Next, his twin Maclyn is shot in his bed, and the body is found with whip marks on his face next to a dish of broth. As Ellery postulates that the murders are somehow tied to the nursery rhyme, the next death is that of the Old Woman herself. She dies of heart failure and leaves behind a confession to the first two murders. It is only at the marriage of Charley and Sheila that Ellery finally realizes the truth of the bizarre events and unmasks the real criminal. ===== Ellery Queen investigates a murder that took place a number of years ago and has blighted the present-day lives of members of the Fox family. > For the twelve years following the death of Davy's mother Jessica, and the > trial of his father, Davy Fox has suffered inner torture. Davy knew he loved > his wife ... as well as he knew he was going to kill her. He didn't know > just when it was going to happen - but when a man is born to be a murderer, > it's only a matter of time before he claims his birthright. Love turns out > to be a matter of life and death - and it's up to Ellery Queen to make the > choice!" ===== Howard Van Horn, son of millionaire Diedrich Van Horn, comes to Ellery Queen with the request that Ellery investigate what Howard has been doing during a recent bout with amnesia. The trail leads to the small New England town of Wrightsville and what seems to be a love triangle with Howard's stepmother, the beautiful young Sally, from the "wrong side of the tracks" in class-conscious Wrightsville. A series of small and unusual crimes over the next nine days seem to be committed by Howard during amnesiac blackouts, and Ellery Queen suddenly realizes the bizarre pattern that underpins the series of crimes. ===== ===== A strangler is killing Manhattanites, seemingly at random. The only common thread is the unusual silk cords that are used for the killings; blue for men and pink for women. Other than that, the victims come from all social classes and backgrounds, ethnicities, races, neighbourhoods, etc. The city is in a panic. Ellery Queen forms together a small group of people related to some of the victims, and some consultants, and works to determine the killer's reason for selecting these particular victims. When he finally realizes the thread that connects the victims, the murderer is revealed and peace returns to the city. ===== Ellery Queen investigates a series of murders that seem to be related by an old rhyme: "Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, ...." ===== The beautiful young Laurel Hill asks Ellery Queen to investigate a series of unusual anonymous gifts that have been received by her father, Leander Hill, half of Hill and Priam, Wholesale Jewelers. Roger Priam is Leander's partner, who uses a wheelchair. The latest gift, a dead dog with a mysterious note in a silver casket around its neck, has caused Leander to have a heart attack and die. Now Roger Priam (and his sultry wife Delia, who attracts Ellery like a carnivorous plant) has started to receive unusual anonymous gifts as well. Delia's nudist son Crowe, who is Laurel's boyfriend, and a cast of servants, are also on the scene. The mysterious gifts include some poisoned tuna fish salad, a green alligator wallet, a burned book and a bundle of worthless stocks and bonds, all accompanied by cryptic and ominous notes, and it seems as though they date back to a mysterious and possibly violent incident in the past of both Hill and Priam that gets them started in the wholesale jewelry business. Ellery Queen works out the significance of the series of gifts and the link that connects the notes and arranges a dramatic surprise that traps the criminal—although the true criminal is not known until the final moments of the book. ===== ===== ===== ===== In 1935 E.C., the continent of Europa is dominated by two superpowers: The Autocratic East Europan Imperial Alliance in the east and a commonwealth of loosely allied democracies known as the Atlantic Federation in the west. The economies of both powers depend on a precious multipurpose mineral called Ragnite. Its growing scarcity results in the Empire declaring war on the Federation, sparking the Second Europan War. The Empire uses its military superiority to quickly put the Federation on the defensive. Emboldened by their progress and momentum, the Empire decides to invade the neutral Principality of Gallia to seize its rich Ragnite deposits. When Imperial forces launch an attack on the Gallian border town of Bruhl, Welkin Gunther, son of the country's hero General Belgen Gunther, is forced to fight for his life alongside the town watch captain, Alicia Melchiott. Together with Welkin's adopted sister Isara and using Belgen's prototype tank from the first war, the Edelweiss, they escape to the capital city of Randgriz and join the Gallian militia. Welkin is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and assumes command of the newly formed Squad 7, with Alicia acting as his non- commissioned officer. Members of the squad initially question Welkin's qualifications due to a lack of combat experience. He quickly gains their trust and loyalty, however, with his brilliant tactics. Welkin and Alicia soon become romantically engaged, but tragically, Isara is killed by an Imperial sniper. After Squad 7 wages a successful campaign against Imperial forces, the crown prince Maximilian deploys one of his commanders, Selvaria Bles, a rare descendant of the Valkyrians who are believed to have saved the ancient world from the Darcsen race. Using innate magic powers and equipped with a legendary Ragnite lance and shield, Selvaria destroys the Gallian army. Alicia is shot by Welkin's archaeologist colleague Faldio Landzaat to awaken her own latent Valkyrian powers. Alicia is able to drive Selvaria back, allowing the Gallians to advance to the border. At the cost of her own life, Selvaria uses the "final flame" after the capture of the Ghirlandaio fortress, killing the entire core of Gallian military and leaving only the militia, such as Squad 7, remaining. In an attempt to create his own empire, Maximilian uses a "land dreadnought", the Marmota, to break through Gallia's defenses and steal a giant Valkyrian lance from inside Randgriz Castle. The princess reveals herself to be Darcsen - the Valkyrians rewrote history to make themselves into heroes, while an allied Darcsen tribe gained Randgriz as the spoils. With Alicia's help, Squad 7 is able to board the Marmota and send Maximilian to his demise, destroying the dreadnought and ending the conflict between the two factions. Alicia and Welkin return to Bruhl, where they marry and raise a daughter named Isara together. ===== The novel follows private investigator Derek Strange as he works on several cases in Washington DC. Strange's main case is to investigate the death of Chris Wilson. Strange focuses on ex-cop Terry Quinn who shot Wilson. Both were police officers and the shooting led to Quinn's discharge from the police department. The shooting was high profile and characterised as racially motivated; Quinn is caucasian while Wilson was African American. Quinn becomes involved in the investigation himself as he is desperate to clear his conscience. ===== ===== Ansara played Sam Buckhart, an Apache Indian who saved the life of a U.S. Cavalry officer after an Indian ambush. When the officer died, he left Sam money that was used for an education at private schools and Harvard University. After school, he returned to New Mexico where he became a Deputy Marshal working for Marshal Andy Morrison. He lived in a boarding house run by Martha Commager. Other continuing characters include 8-year old Tess Logan, an orphan who had been rescued by Buckhart, and a second Deputy Marshal, Billy Lordan. ===== The film opens with an image of a man being burned alive on the floor of a warehouse. A figure, shrouded in darkness, walks away from this burning body in the down pouring rain. Suddenly, the film cuts to two men in the middle of a bank heist who, coolly and efficiently, partake stacks of bonds from a safety deposit box. The two men with two more accomplices, along with a hostage in their trunk, drive towards some unknown location away from the city, soon to be revealed as the very warehouse in which the man was previously seen being burned alive. Upon their arrival, one of the criminals, whose name is Ryu, enters the warehouse to discover, to his horror, that the man in which they were supposed to pass the bonds off to now is a charcoaled corpse lying in the middle of the floor. The other three criminals enter as well and are shocked as well at the sight. Questions begin to arise: what is their next plan of action? Do they wait until the mysterious man who hired them arrives, whom none of the criminals have met? Do they simply split the bonds and make a run for it? But soon the questions give way to accusations as the criminals begin to turn on one another, suspecting that one of them may, in fact, be the very man who hired them, and who must have set ablaze the now smoldering corpse. The rest of the film is told in a series of flashbacks that explain events that led up to the bank heist, which are intercut with scenes in the present as the criminals begin to probe one another for answers to this confusing puzzle... ===== Private Investigators Kenzie and Gennaro are tasked to retrieve missing documents by a trio of politicians. The trail leads them into the midst of a gang war and reveals an act of child abuse. Kenzie struggles with memories of his own past while Gennaro deals with her abusive marriage. ===== Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair, set in the forested land of Oakenrealm, was Morris' reimagining and recasting of the medieval Lay of Havelock the Dane, with his displaced royal heirs Christopher and Goldilind standing in for the original story's Havelock and Goldborough. In contrast to his source, Morris emphasizes the romantic aspect of the story, giving a prominent place to the heroine's misfortunes and bringing to the forefront the love story between her and the hero; the warfare by which the hero regains his heritage is relegated to a secondary role. Also unlike both the source and most of Morris's other fantasies, there is little or no supernatural element in this version of the story. Christopher is portrayed as initially ignorant of his true identity, leading to an emotional conflict between the protagonists to reconcile their mutual love and attraction with what they believe to be the profound disparity in their social status and shame of their forced marriage. This situation is resolved when the two fall in with Jack of the Tofts, who gives refuge to Christopher after his sons rescue the hero from an assassination attempt by a servant of the usurper Earl Rolf. Jack informs Christopher of his true station and gathers together an army to help him challenge the usurper. When the hosts meet, the commander of Rolf's forces, Baron Gandolf of Brimside, challenges Jack to single combat, but Christopher claims the honor from Jack and proves his worth by defeating the opposing champion. ===== Hollywood studio mogul Joe Mulholland (Matthau) vows to produce the pet project of a dying acquaintance, who has been trying to find a way to make a film out of a best-selling sex manual. He and screenwriter Herb Derman (Grodin) try to make it happen, but fail in every possible way. Meanwhile, Herb is distracted by his own marital problems. ===== Munitions maker King Bendigo is the wealthiest man alive, and what the King wants, the King gets. What he wants is the investigative powers of Ellery Queen and his father, New York homicide detective Richard Queen, in order to investigate some threatening letters. Bendigo has an enormous security apparatus in place that is capable of dealing with threats that involve sovereign governments, but these threats are more personal. Ellery and his father are transported to the Bendigo private island and soon determine that the threats originate within the King's family. The King has two brothers, his assistant Abel and drunken sot Judah, and the King's beautiful wife Karla completes the list of suspects. Judah makes little secret of the fact that it is he who has originated the threats; he announces that he will shoot King at exactly midnight on June 21. At that time, King is locked in a hermetically sealed room accompanied only by his wife; Judah is under Ellery's observation and armed only with an empty gun. At midnight, Judah lifts the empty gun and fires—and King falls back, wounded with a bullet. Karla falls under suspicion but no gun is found on her person or anywhere in the room; similarly, Judah cannot have had a bullet in his possession, having been searched repeatedly. When Ellery learns that the Bendigo family is originally from his familiar haunt of Wrightsville, he travels there for an investigation of the King's early life. Upon his return to the private island, he solves the crime and dramatic and deadly effects follow in short order. ===== "Eliduc" tells the story of a knight named Eliduc who lives in Brittany. Because he is very loyal to the king, Eliduc is given many gifts and responsibilities. Jealous of the preferential treatment Eliduc receives at court, some of the other knights slander him to the king. The king banishes Eliduc from his presence with no explanation. Disappointed, Eliduc decides to leave Brittany and go to Logres (Great Britain). He leaves his faithful wife, Guildeluec, in charge of his lands while he is abroad. Once in Logres, Eliduc hears about a king who lives near Exeter. This king does not have a son, and he is being besieged by another king who wishes to marry his daughter. Eliduc decides to fight for the king and he ultimately helps him win against his enemy. Eliduc soon attracts the attention of the princess, Guilliadon, who decides to send him two tokens of love: a belt and a ring. Eliduc accepts these gifts, and the love of the princess, in spite of his marriage. Eliduc and Guilliadon live happily for some time until word reaches him that his former king in Brittany needs him. Eliduc leaves Logres, and Guilliadon asks to accompany him. Instead, Eliduc convinces her to set a date for his return. Eliduc returns to his king and wife in Brittany. Although he tries to hide his pain of the separation from Guilliadon, she realizes that something is wrong. When the date arrives for him to return to Guilliadon, he goes to Logres with the intention of running off with his lover. Eliduc sends his chamberlain to Guilliadon who agrees to leave with Eliduc. Once the boat leaves port, however, a tempest begins to rage. One of the sailors blames Eliduc, and Guilliadon finally learns that Eliduc has a wife in Brittany. Distraught, she faints. Thinking Guilliadon has died, Eliduc tosses overboard the sailor who accused him, and the storm subsides. When they finally reach land, Eliduc decides to go to a chapel deep in the woods where he will bury Guilliadon. He goes to visit a hermit he knows near the site, but the hermit has recently died. Eliduc's comrades want to leave Guilliadon in the tomb with the hermit, but Eliduc resists, claiming he still wants to build an abbey or church there. He leaves Guilliadon in the hermit's chapel and returns to his wife to think about the plans for his abbey. Guildeluec is happy to see her husband but soon realizes that his mind is elsewhere. She has one of her servants follow Eliduc one day when he goes to the chapel to visit Guilliadon's body. Guildeluec soon follows to discover the source of her husband's sorrow. Seeing the young woman, Guildeluec understands immediately that this is her husband's lover; and she mourns the young woman. Two weasels run into the chapel. When the servant kills one of the weasels (both female, metaphorically representing the two women), the other one runs into the forest to find a magical flower that revives him. Seeing this, Guildeluec takes the flower from the weasel and uses it to heal Guilliadon. Not knowing that the woman she sees is Eliduc's wife, Guilliadon immediately explains her story, confessing that she did not know that Eliduc was married. Guildeluec reveals her identity and forgives Guilliadon. The two women return to Eliduc who is overwhelmed with joy at the sight of his lover. Noticing this, Guildeluec generously decides to become the abbess of Eliduc's proposed abbey in the forest and frees Eliduc of his marital bond. Eliduc goes on to marry Guilliadon and lives happily for many years. Later in life, Guilliadon enters into the convent of Eliduc's first wife, and Eliduc himself enters into a monastery. All three serve God for the rest of their lives. ===== Dirk and Martha Lawrence are apparently not the happiest couple in New York, despite her millions of dollars and his fairly successful mystery-writing career. Martha asks for a secretive meeting to get Ellery Queen's advice because Dirk's violent jealousy is causing problems in her life—but Dirk shows up suspecting the worst and punches Ellery into unconsciousness. Dirk apologizes the next day, telling the story of how his father had killed his mother's lover, thereby causing his over-reaction. Ellery's secretary and inamorata Nikki Porter urges him to stay involved in the situation and Nikki moves in with the Lawrences to keep an eye on things (and act as Dirk's secretary on a stalled book). Nikki soon reports that Martha actually is having a series of clandestine meetings with romantic actor Van Harrison. The meetings are arranged with innocuous envelopes that look like advertising, but with Martha's name and address written in scarlet typewriter ink. Also, the envelopes contain only a day, time and a sequential letter of the alphabet—a code that is soon linked to a New York Guidebook. By the time the meetings have progressed from "A" through to "W", Dirk has found out about the affair and followed Martha to Van's home in the suburb of Darien. He breaks in, confronts the pair and shoots them both, seriously wounding Martha, who nearly dies. Van Harrison has just enough time before he dies to leave a dying clue—using his own blood, he writes an "X", then a "Y" on the wall, and dies. Ellery must consider the significance of this dying message and finally solves it, just as Dirk's murder trial is about to conclude. After Ellery gets a private conversation with the judge, a criminal then receives justice. ===== Clothing designer Mary Haines lives in a beautiful suburban Connecticut home with her wealthy financier husband Steven and their 11-year-old daughter Molly. Her best friend since college, Sylvie Fowler, is the editor of a prominent fashion magazine that dictates the latest in taste and style for New York City fashionistas. When Sylvie learns Steven is involved with Crystal Allen, a perfume salesgirl in Saks Fifth Avenue, from chatty manicurist Tanya, she confides in the ever-pregnant Edie Cohen but hesitates to tell Mary, who discovers the news from the same woman after getting a manicure herself. Despite her mother Catherine's exhortation to keep quiet about what she knows, Mary confronts Crystal first, in a lingerie store, and then Steven, before asking for a divorce. Sylvie, Edie, and writer Alex Fisher join forces to support their spurned friend, but complications arise when Sylvie, facing the loss of her job, conspires with local gossip columnist Bailey Smith by confirming Mary's marital woes in exchange for Bailey contributing a celebrity profile to the magazine. Mary is stunned by Sylvie's betrayal and ends their friendship. Mary's daughter begins to ditch school and confides in Sylvie because her mother, distracted by the upheavals in her once idyllic life, becomes more distant. Mary is fired from her job by her father, has a makeover, and decides to open her own clothing design firm with some financial assistance from Catherine. As she begins to get her life in order, she makes an effort to bond with Molly, who reveals her father's relationship with Crystal is unraveling, and reunites with Sylvie, who has quit her job. With this knowledge in hand, Mary sets out to repair her fractured marriage as she prepares to unveil her new line of womenswear in a fashion show attended not only by boutique owners but the buyer from Saks as well. Sylvie tells Mary that she has met a guy and is thinking of giving him her real phone number. Edie's water breaks and she has a baby boy. Mary receives a call from her husband and is encouraged by the others to answer it; she then arranges a date with him. In the end, we see that a magazine titled Sylvie is published with the four friends on the cover and Alex's book is out. A hint is given about Crystal's possibly going out with Alex's ex-girlfriend Natasha. The women talk about the magazine, the book and the joys, heartaches and uniquely special triumphs of being a woman. ===== At Weston Hills Sanitarium in rural Ohio, psychiatric patient Dickie Cavanaugh commits suicide by hanging himself. Cavanaugh's sister gives permission to two gravediggers to bury the body. While the two men are digging the hole for Cavanaugh's body, they are attacked and murdered by an unseen killer who throws their corpses into the burial plot. Meanwhile, at nearby DeWitt University, the basketball team wins a championship game, and as a result, an all-night scavenger hunt will take place the next evening for the female students. Lynn and her boyfriend-star player Teddy Ratliff celebrate the victory at the campus diner, and the waitress Barney is thrilled for the team. Lynn, Teddy, and other students attend a party that evening, where the story of Dickie circulates among freshmen who are unaware of his recent death; they are told that Cavanaugh murdered his girlfriend Patty in a jealous rage and is locked away in the sanitarium. Lynn becomes jealous over Teddy's attraction to Dawn Sorenson and misfit Mike Pryor gets into a fight with his girlfriend Sheila. Soon, school mascot Michael Benson is stabbed in his dorm room after arriving back from the party, and his bear mascot costume is stolen by the killer. The following day, Mike Pryor is questioned by campus security officer Jim MacVey over the fight with his girlfriend; MacVey's daughter Patty was Dickie Cavanaugh's girlfriend. Later that evening, the campus radio DJ broadcasts the clues to the scavenger hunt, which are received by the girls on their portable radios. Meanwhile, the killer who is dressed in the bear costume, is armed with serrated knives mimicking bear claws. Jane enters the girls' locker room and locates the first item of the hunt, only to be attacked from behind by the killer, who brutally slashes her throat while calling her misogynistic slurs. Shortly after, Kathy discovers Jane's body crudely strung up in the locker room showers. Kathy tries to flee before also having her throat slashed. The DJ at the radio station begins receiving phone calls from the killer, who tallies his victims; the killer also calls officer MacVey and claims to be Dickie Cavanaugh. Sheila goes down to the pond to search for another item and runs into the bear-clad killer, whom she believes to be Benson. Teasing him, she goes into an abandoned shed by the pond. While inside the shed, the killer smashes their hand through the window, slashing Sheila's throat. Meanwhile, Lynn continues searching for items on the scavenger hunt, while Teddy visits Dawn at her apartment, where the two have sex. Lynn's friend Leslie goes to search for an item in the attic of the old chapel, where she is murdered and her body is discovered by Lynn. After calling, the police arrive and find all of the bodies, where they are suspicious of Mike Pryor and question several of the students. Dawn gets into an argument with her boyfriend, who kicks her out of their house after he tells her he knows about her affair with Teddy. Officer MacVey studies the phone calls placed to the radio station as well as files and photographs of Dickie Cavanaugh, whose death he became aware of by Dickie's doctor. On her way home, Dawn senses that someone is following her and makes a call from the cafeteria payphone to Teddy's house, where he is consoling Lynn. Teddy leaves Lynn to get Dawn, and finds her bloodily wounded in the cafeteria. As Teddy is comforting her, he is stabbed by Barney, who reveals herself as the killer. Officer MacVey enters the cafeteria and confronts Barney, whom he addresses as Dickie's twin sister, Katie Cavanaugh. Katie, apparently suffering from dissociative identity disorder, responds to MacVey in alternating voices, claiming to be Dickie. After MacVey tells Katie that Dickie is dead, she reverts, and calmly tells him that Dickie is not dead, and that she brought him home from the hospital. She opens the freezer, displaying Dickie's frozen body clothed in a wheelchair and with the bear-claw weapon in his hand. ===== Aunt Fanny Adams, famed artist, is the most notable citizen of the tiny New England town of Shinn Corners. A noted proponent of the naturalist school ("I paint what I see") who only began painting at age eighty, her income props up the local church, school, and almost everything else in town. When she is found murdered, suspicion immediately falls on a passing tramp named Josef Kowalczyk, and a planned lynching is nearly successful. It takes the combined efforts of the town's second-most-notable citizen, Judge Shinn, and his house guest, Major Johnny Shinn, to insist upon a trial by jury. Empaneling a jury takes every eligible citizen in the village, counsel and witnesses alike, and so the trial would never withstand legal scrutiny. But Judge Shinn and Major Shinn's investigation reveals a trail of circumstantial evidence that leads to another potential killer before the mock trial's conclusion. ===== Scotty Parker, a college student in Southern California, is seeking a room for the fall semester at the last-minute. She is directed to a boarding house run by the standoffish Mrs. Engels; a Victorian mansion on a cliffside overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Mrs. Engels lives in the house along with her teenage son, Mason, and several other college students, including Doris, Peter, and Jack. The four students become friends, and decide to go on a double date together. Afterward, Doris and Peter walk along the beach near the house. Peter, drunk, makes unwanted advances on her, and Doris leaves him on the beach. He falls unconscious, and is awakened by an unseen assailant who stabs him to death with a butcher knife. Lieutenant McGiver and Sergeant Manny Rusin are assigned to investigate Peter's murder, and Lt. McGiver grows suspicious of Mrs. Engels and her son. One afternoon, Scotty and Doris meet in the basement laundry room, where Doris tells her she is planning on moving after what happened to Peter. Scotty returns to her room with Jack, and the two begin to have sex. Meanwhile, in the basement, a woman bursts out of a hidden door, stabbing Doris numerous times in the head and chest. The woman flees through the secret door, which opens to a hidden staircase that travels along the house's air ducts, eventually leading to a room located off the main attic space. Scotty goes downstairs to get her laundry, where she finds a pool of blood, and Doris gone. She discovers the secret door, and ascends the staircase. At the top, she finds a narrow hallway with a door at the end. She attempts to open it, and is attacked by the woman, who pulls her inside. The commotion alarms Mrs. Engels, who enters the room from an access door in the attic and intervenes. Mrs. Engels reveals that the woman, Victoria, is her daughter. Mason chastises his mother for having taken in boarders at the house, knowing of Victoria's violent outbursts. Mrs. Engels then reveals to Mason that Victoria is in fact his mother: After a suicide attempt, she gave birth to him, but was left mute and homicidal after undergoing a botched lobotomy at a psychiatric hospital. Meanwhile, Jack searches for Scotty throughout the house, but is unable to find her. He is confronted by Mason downstairs, who knocks him unconscious. At the police station, Sgt. Rusin uncovers a file on Victoria's past and determines she has been living in the Engels home after being taken out of the psychiatrist hospital; he and Lt. McGiver promptly leave to go to the boarding house. Meanwhile, with Scotty bound and gagged in a closet, Mrs. Engels attempts to console the childlike Victoria. Mason obtains a gun from his bedroom and returns to the attic, attempting to kill Victoria. In a struggle, he inadvertently shoots Mrs. Engels through the chest, killing her. With his back turned, Victoria approaches Mason. He turns around, and she stares at him blankly, moving closer with a knife. Cornered against a window, he shoots her, and then shoots himself in the head. Scotty manages to free herself, but finds Victoria has survived the gunshot; she attacks Scotty with the knife. Jack awakens just as Lt. McGiver and Sgt. Rusin arrive at the house. They enter the attic and find Victoria collapsed with a knife in her stomach. Jack consoles Scotty as Victoria dies on the floor. ===== The title's "uncommon reader" (Queen Elizabeth II) becomes obsessed with books after a chance encounter with a mobile library. The story follows the consequences of this obsession for the Queen, her household and advisers, and her constitutional position. The title is a play on the phrase "common reader". This can mean a person who reads for pleasure, as opposed to a critic or scholar. It can also mean a set text, a book that everyone in a group (for example, all students entering a university) are expected to read, so that they can have something in common. The Common Reader is used by Virginia Woolf as the title work of her 1925 essay collection. Plus a triple play – Virginia Woolf's title came from Dr. Johnson: "I rejoice to concur with the common reader; for by the common sense of readers, uncorrupted by literary prejudices, after all the refinements of subtilty and the dogmatism of learning, must be generally decided all claims to poetical honours." In British English, "common" holds levels of connotation. A commoner is anyone other than royalty or nobility. Common can also mean vulgar, as common taste; mean, as common thief; ordinary, as common folk; widespread, as in "common use"; or something for use by everyone, as in "common land". ===== The series is set in the year 2017, and music is delivered in a technological fashion. Previously a pop band named Lemon Angel made it big, but they only performed in large flat screens that serve as ad spaces in the city. After a while, the band disappeared, leaving no trace. Tomo Minaguchi, whose deceased senpai was somehow involved with Lemon Angel, was invited to join an audition aimed to form a new Lemon Angel band, or revive it with new members. Tomo reluctantly agrees. As the series progresses, Tomo bonds with the other four members of the band (out of the audition), and along the way, each learn the values of trust, friendship and inner strength, as they do their best to perform for the Lemon Angel Project. ===== Gangaram alias Ganga (Govinda) lives a simple, straightforward life in a small village with his mom and dad (Shivaji Satham and Reema Lagoo), and his girlfriend, Saawni (Sonali Bendre). When the time comes for Ganga to marry, his parents inform him that his biological parents live in the city and want him to settle there. Ganga bids tearful farewell to his village and its inhabitants and travels to the city of his birth parents. He finds that he has an elder brother, who is married to Supriya, and younger siblings, as well as his birth parents, Avinash (Shakti Kapoor) and Radha (Himani Shivpuri), who are all very wealthy. Ganga struggles to cope up with the modern city lifestyle. His sister-in-law dislikes him more as days pass by. Soon word spreads about Ganga being the latest eligible bachelor. He is asked to marry a socialite, Tina (Rinke Khanna), as per his parents' wishes. Ganga agrees to everything his new-found family wants him to do. Things get so bad for Ganga that he runs away from his biological parents' home and finds his older brother being blackmailed by a woman and two goons. He saves his brother, but his best friend gets stabbed in the stomach by one of the goons who flees the scene; he gets accused for stabbing his own friend. Ganga refuses to speak the truth about the incident at court as he does not want his family's reputation to be ruined. His sister-in-law, who learns the truth from her husband, speaks out at court and proves his innocence. After the verdict, Ganga and his best friend return to their village where he reunites with Saawni. His parents agree to get them married. ===== Rick Riker (Drake Bell) is an unpopular student at Empire High School. He lives with his Uncle Albert (Leslie Nielsen) and Aunt Lucille (Marion Ross), and his best friend, Trey (Kevin Hart), is also his confidante. Rick has a crush on Jill Johnson (Sara Paxton), but she is dating bully Lance Landers (Ryan Hansen). One day, Rick and his class go on a school field trip at an animal research lab run by terminally ill businessman Lou Landers (Christopher McDonald), who is Lance's uncle. During the trip, Rick accidentally saturates himself in animal-attraction liquid, which causes a group of animals to hump him. This also leads a chemically enhanced radioactive dragonfly to fly onto Rick's neck and bite him. Meanwhile, Lou creates a machine designed to heal illness; testing it on himself, he gains perfect health at the cost of needing to drain life energy from a victim per day. To avoid arrest for murder, Lou becomes the villain Hourglass. During a science fair, Rick begins to experience strange physical traits which creates a number of mishaps, and later realizes that he has developed superpowers from the dragonfly bite. Rick reveals his secret to his uncle and Trey, and an argument starts between him and Albert. The next day, while visiting the bank with Lucille, Rick accidentally allows a bank robber to make off with stolen cash. The robber then shoots and injures Albert. Rick is later met by Xavier (Tracy Morgan) who takes Rick to his school for mutants, where he meets Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, Invisible Woman, Barry Bonds and Mrs. Xavier, who convince Rick to become a superhero. At home, Rick creates a superhero costume and dubs himself Dragonfly. As Dragonfly, Rick starts watching over the city and fighting crime, quickly becoming a media sensation, despite being unable to fly. Later, Dragonfly attempts to stop Hourglass from robbing a warehouse full of "ceryllium" as part of his evil plan but fails, allowing Hourglass to escape. Later that night, Jill is attacked by thieves, but Dragonfly saves her and they share a kiss. Meanwhile, Landers plans to construct a machine that will kill people and give him enough life energy to make him immortal. Later that night, Landers and Lance have dinner with Rick's family and Jill, but Landers secretly learns of Rick's true identity when he notices the same injuries on Rick as on Dragonfly. Making up an awkward excuse, he and Lance leave. Landers returns minutes later as Hourglass and kills Aunt Lucille. Albert awakens from his coma, learning about her death indirectly from his moronic doctor. After a comic funeral, Jill meets Rick and offers to begin a relationship with him. However, Rick fears Hourglass will come for Jill if they were together, and therefore rejects Jill, leaving her hurt and furious. Rick decides to end his superhero career, but knowing that Hourglass would head to an awards ceremony to kill hundreds of people, he gets Albert to take him there. At the ceremony, Rick is tricked by Landers into mistaking the Dalai Lama for Hourglass, and chaos ensues. Meanwhile, Jill discovers that Landers is Hourglass. When Hourglass clashes with Dragonfly on a rooftop, he tries to activate his machine, but Dragonfly manages to kill him with a bomb that had been comically stuck onto his genitals after being thrown by Hourglass. Jill is thrown off the side of the building by the explosion, but Dragonfly manages to grow wings and save her. Jill learns that Rick is Dragonfly due to a family ring he wears being exposed through a hole in his glove and the two begin a relationship. After being thanked for saving the city, Rick flies away with Jill, but the two are unexpectedly rammed by a passing helicopter. ===== After Eder shows up and confesses to what he has done, Duca's father (Aílton Graça) calls his lawyer friend to help Eder prepare his defense. Duca then goes to his long-time friend Isa's house, whom he secretly has feelings for, to tell her about the excitement. Soon after, his other friend Kid (Renan Augusto) arrives as well, and they explain the story to him as well. Duca sees Kid touch Isa's shoulder, though, and becomes jealous so he decides to return home.http://www.adorocinema.com/filmes/filme-108954/ The following day, Duca talks with Isa (Sophia Reis) again, and his skill for detective work by spotting flaws in her story that she did not spend much time with Kid after Duca left; he does not mention this to her, though, and finds out the truth from Kid later while they are shopping for CDs. As the story develops, Duca continues to try to subtly keep Isa and Kid from getting together due to Isa's obvious attraction to Kid, while simultaneously looking into the murder. To this end, Duca asks permission to visit Eder in jail. Isa eagerly volunteers to go along on the adventure, and they set out the following day. When they meet Eder, he asks Duca to give a message to his lover. Eder asks Duca to tell her not to visit him while he is in jail, and to tell her that he is fine. On the way back, Isa remembers the Pokémon pen that was confiscated from her and they return to the jail to retrieve it. Since they took the bus through a dangerous part of town, they are forced to walk the distance. The two encounter a group of men who aggressively hit on Isa, causing her to run away. The next day at school, she brags about her adventure, embellishing the details greatly to her friends. Duca remains silent, but when pressed for details himself, he disagrees with Isa, and she storms away angrily. Attempting to get past the incident, he pretends it never happened, to the annoyance of Isa. Kid, however, is eager to have an adventure of his own and so agrees to travel to Eder's girlfriend's condo and relay the message. After locating Eder's Lover, Soraya (Deborah Secco), they are permitted up by the doorman. She answers her door scantily clad, and invites the boys in. They relay the message, to her general disinterest, and she requests that Duca repair her automatic pool cleaning device - a product of Eder's that failed to sell well. Out by her pool, Duca notices several items which lead him to believe another man is living with Soraya. Moving inside, his suspicions are confirmed when he sees a tattooed male arm answering a phone downstairs. While leaving, they accidentally track soil from a broken vase over the carpet downstairs to the fury of the doorman. They flee, giving Kid something to brag about at school the next day as well. Duca again visits his uncle, and this time asks him more questions. He decides that Eder is lying about his involvement and is covering for Soraya, who Duca believes is the true killer. Duca believes that his uncle is taking the fall for a woman who is being unfaithful to Eder and may be simply using Eder. He believes that Eder would never take Duca's word for it about the man living with Soraya, and so he goes about hiring a private investigator to obtain photographic evidence. Meanwhile, during the investigation, Duca is worried that an upcoming party will lead to Isa and Kid getting together at last, so he craftily plays matchmaker with Kid and another classmate. However, upon seeing how unhappy Isa becomes after watching the two dance, Duca helps to repair the situation and leaves the party with his two friends dancing closely together. When the investigator shows the photographs, Duca is surprised to find it showing Kid back at Soraya's condo. The series of pictures seems to suggest that the two had sex, and when Isa asks to see the photographs, Duca refuses to show them, causing yet another fight between the two friends. Duca mails the photographs to Eder, hoping it will convince him to tell the truth to the police, and he remains not on speaking terms with his two friends for nearly a week. Isa, hoping to make up, comes to his house and has lunch with Duca and his family. Eder shows up, having obtained Habeas corpus pending his trial. He has not yet opened the package containing the photographs Duca sent him, and becomes furious upon seeing them. He rushes from the house intent on killing both his girlfriend and her new lover. Isa also sees the pictures as well and is also crushed. Duca convinces her that they must go to Soraya's condo, though, to try to stop Eder from doing something foolish. Eder, meanwhile, attacks the man living with his girlfriend and discovers that it is Fabio, Soraya's brother. The man in the pictures, however, is Kid (although the two do resemble each other). Soraya explains the series of photographs with an innocent story; but Duca can see that she is lying. As usual, though, he does not mention it to anyone. Eder and his girlfriend make up, and Duca decides to keep Soraya's secret seeing Eder so happy. Isa and Kid also break up, though Kid tells Duca privately that he had misread the situation and never had sex with Soraya. Isa informs Duca that she and Kid broke up, to which Duca offers condolences. Isa asks him if that is really how he feels and Duca admits that he is happy they are no longer together. The film ends with the two friends kissing and Eder's fate still unknown. ===== Chinatsu, a vampiress from Japan, looks for her family's killer, and also her vampire sire. She mercilessly searches throughout many time periods and centuries in order to exact her revenge. ===== After Alex Sperling, a Harvard-bound valedictorian, loses his summer internship, he heads to Los Angeles to work for his cousin Roger. Unfortunately, Roger isn't the successful businessman he's made himself out to be (having dropped out of Harvard and becoming a pool boy). After a series of mishaps force Alex and Roger to squat in the mansion of one of Roger's clients, they join forces with a local escort to start an escort business. As the business quickly grows, the boys find themselves trapped in the middle of outlandish situations. ===== The year is 1919 and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must investigate the murder of his mentor (and founder of The Arcanum), Konstantin Duvall. To do so he must reunite the scattered members of the Arcanum: Harry Houdini, H. P. Lovecraft, and voodoo queen Marie Laveau. Doyle finds himself embroiled in a story of war as old as time itself, for possession of the world’s most powerful—now missing—artifact: the Book of Enoch, the chronicle of God’s mistakes, within whose pages lie the seeds for the end of everything. Peopled with the twentieth century’s most famous—and infamous—figures, the stakes go beyond the realm of humankind—into the divine. ===== During an excursion with the marine club, a group of children is transported to what is later revealed as the planet Noah, a strange world that holds both human inhabitants on the scientific level of the middle ages as well as various types of dinosaurs. They quickly make friends with talking Pteranodon Zans and Manua, an inhabitant of Noah, who helps them out on more than one occasion. While trying to find a way back home, the children learn more about the new world they're in, discovering the people and dinosaurs suffer from oppression by the king as well as the church's prohibition of science. They get into conflict with General Mosar who is interested in their advanced technology and consequently have to flee from the king's army as well as the priests who try to capture Zans, who incidentally is the son of White Wing, the famous but passed leader of the rebellion. ===== In 1970s Portland, Oregon, Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston) realizes he has a remarkable gift for public speaking. Pimentel's idol is College Bowl founder Dr. Padrow (Hector Elizondo), but upon trying out for Dr. Padrow, the ambitious young speaker is informed that he won't have anything to talk about until he has lived a full life. Realizing that there is some merit to Dr. Padrow's observation, Pimentel subsequently enlists in the military and prepares for duty in Vietnam. Later, while fighting on the battlefield, Pimentel loses most of his hearing and is left with permanent tinnitus. He returns home frustrated, and enrolls at Portland State University. When others inform him that he will never achieve his dreams because he is deaf, the determined veteran makes it his mission to prove them wrong. But it is not as much about changing others' perceptions of persons with disabilities as it is about altering their perceptions of themselves, and with a little help from foul-mouthed genius Art Honeyman (Michael Sheen) (who has cerebral palsy), free-spirited beauty Christine (Melissa George), and mercurial, hard-drinking veteran Mike Stoltz (Yul Vázquez), Pimentel plays a pivotal role in creating the Americans With Disabilities Act. ===== Rajesh Malhotra (Govinda) is the son of a wealthy businessman Dhanraj Malhotra (Kader Khan). However, he is not happy at his home since his father does not let him live his life his way. He escapes from his home and reaches Europe. Meena (Karishma Kapoor) is the granddaughter of Dinanath (Paresh Rawal) and has secured a scholarship to study in Europe. She travels to Europe with her aunt Shannu (Himani Shivpuri). Rajesh and Meena meet and fall in love. Dhanraj Malhotra reaches Europe in search of his son with assistant Sharma (Rakesh Bedi) and discovers his son is in love. They return to India so that Rajesh and Meena can get married. However, destiny has something else in store for them. As Dhanraj is on his way to discuss his son's marriage, he accidentally splashes sludge on a pedestrian and both end up quarreling. To Dhanraj's surprise, the pedestrian, unfortunately, turns out to be Dinanath himself, who, raged with the incident, refuses to Dhanraj's proposal of his son's marriage. Dinanath's house has a problem. They are a joint family and recently the servant Babu (Shakti Kapoor) ran away. They are now in search of a new servant. Rajesh, on realising that his father did a mess up of the meeting with Dinanath, decides to disguise as a servant named Raju and work at Dinanath's home. Everybody in that home has some problem or the other, which Raju (Govinda) solves through his wit. Dinanath's elder son Vidya Nath (Tiku Talsania) is a teacher in a local college, but is always late and bears the College Principal's brunt. Raju helps him when he is about to be transferred. Dinanath's second son Jeevan Nath(Anil Dhawan), is an insurance agent but does not have many customers. Raju helps him by asking all employees in his father's office to open insurance policies with Jeevan Nath. The younger son, Pappi (Satish Shah) is a struggling music composer. Raju makes him prepare some good music which he uses as his own and gets a break for a film's music. The elder daughter, Shanno is not in good terms with her husband, so she stays away from him in her father's home. Raju makes her meet her husband and unites them again. The younger granddaughter, Dimple (Prachi) is a party animal. Raju one day saves her from few rowdies and she turns into a homey girl. Dinanath is impressed with Raju's acts, but one day he finds some valuables missing from his house. Police arrive and find Dhanraj, in the guise of a Chowkidar (portraying Raju's uncle), hiding behind the fridge. Raju and Dhanraj are insulted by the family members and are about to be taken away when Meena reveals Raju's true identity and the sacrifices he has been through for his love. Dinanath realises of Meena and Raju's true love for each other. In the last scene, as he is going in his car along with Meena to Dhanraj's place, Dhanraj comes along with Rajesh in their way and nearby sludge comes splashing over Dhanraj, thus completing Dinanath's revenge. Rajesh and Meena get married. ===== Set in a medieval fantasy world, Lordan is the ruler of the northern kingdom. Zoras, an evil necromancer, is in his tower made of human bones, planning to make a second attempt to overthrow Lordan, after his first attempt was defeated by Sodan, the hero. Zoras studied ancient parchments where he learned to experiment with long forgotten spells. His new knowledge enabled him to conjure all kinds of nightmarish creatures, which he sent marching towards Lordan's castle, leaving a path of death and destruction. To protect his twin children, son Brodan and daughter Shardan, Lordan arranged for them to be taken from the castle across the Cthol mountains to the farthest corner of the land. After Lordan's defeat and death at Zoras' hands, his children were raised by an old, bitter man, who also trained them in the art of sword combat. Before they start their journey to defeat Zoras, the old man hands over to them the sword of Sodan. Armed with the sword, they fight their way to castle Craggamoor and face the tyrannical Zoras. After they defeat Zoras, the people accept them as the true rulers and saviors of the land.Summarized from the Amiga manual ===== The story as told by The Moving Picture News reads: ===== John Girdlestone owns the firm of Girdlestone. It is a very lucrative business and John Girdlestone and his son Ezra Girdlestone are respected by everyone. Both father and son are cynics and have no other thought but for their business; after giving a donation of £25 for charity, John Girdlestone remarks to himself that it is not a bad "investment", as it will make a favorable impression on the collector, who is a Member of Parliament, whose influence he hopes to use some day. Ezra, his son, is even more of a cynic, as the elder Girdlestone's cynicism is mitigated by his supposed religiosity. However, he manifests a great acumen for business, sometimes even surpassing his father's sharpness in business matters. A series of disastrous speculations by the elder Girdlestone financially ruins the firm. After keeping the impending bankruptcy a secret from everyone for a time, he tells his son (whom he has fooled with a dummy ledger) about it. The son is disgusted by his father's rashness. They resort to chicanery to save the firm. They plan to send an agent to the Ural mountains who will claim to have found diamond mines. They speculate that the resulting plunge in the prices of diamonds in England and South Africa will force the dealers to get rid of their diamonds quickly at absurdly cheap rates to avoid total financial ruin, which would eventually fall on them if diamonds from the Urals start pouring in the market. They will then step in and buy as many diamonds as their remaining money would allow them. Once their capital is exhausted, their agent will disappear and the discovery that the Ural diamond mines were a hoax would skyrocket the prices of diamonds once again, leaving them rich men. Their plan works perfectly and the prices go down just as they had expected. Ezra Girdlestone travels to South Africa to buy from the dealers there while John Girdlestone starts buying in London. After they spend all their money on diamonds and get ready to call their agent back from the Urals, their plan collapses with the discovery of bona fide diamond mines in South Africa. As a fellow conspirator tells Ezra in South Africa: "Russia or no Russia, the prices will not go up!" He goes back to England and both of them sell their diamonds cheaply, which leaves them in an even more precarious situation than they already were in. A very old friend of John Girdlestone had entrusted his daughter to him before dying. She was heir to £40,000 which she would inherit upon coming of age. John Girdlestone persuades his son to seduce the girl and marry her so that they could get their hands on the money. Ezra fails miserably not only because he is totally inept in romance, but because the girl is already in love with another man. Having exhausted all their means, John Girdlestone decides on a sinister plan. His friend's will provides that if the girl dies before coming of age, John Girdlestone becomes the sole heir. He plans to murder the girl. His son does not favour this plan, but his father persuades him, telling him that it will make the firm rich again. ===== Francis York Morgan investigates the murder of 18-year-old Anna Graham (Melissa Hutchison) in the rural town of Greenvale, Washington, in the United States. He takes on the case due to the manner of the killing: a ritualistic murder of a young woman where red seeds have been found on or near the body, similar to a series of other murders across the United States. York generates considerable friction with his dismissive attitude toward the locals, bizarre demeanor, and tendency to interrupt conversations to deliver asides to an unseen person referred to as "Zach." He is assisted by the town's sheriff George Woodman (Casey Robertson), who is scarred by a past of childhood abuse; the deputy sheriff Emily Wyatt (Rebecca Wink), who becomes a love interest for York; and Thomas MacLaine (Christopher Sullivan), George's meek assistant. Additionally, York finds himself regularly ambushed and attacked by the Raincoat Killer, who, according to the folklore of the town, kills only when it rains. As the investigation continues, Anna's close friend Becky Ames (Amy Provenzano) and Diane (Christiane Crawford), Becky's elder sister and art gallery owner, are murdered in a similar fashion, with a mark placed nearby that York believes to be a peace symbol upside-down. He learns that the trees producing the red seeds grow in Greenvale and that there are two Raincoat Killers. The original one, who inspired the folklore, went on a killing spree after the United States military released gas made from the red seeds into the town in 1956, causing the residents to temporarily experience an uncontrollable, murderous rage. The second, the New Raincoat Killer, hopes to gain immortality by consuming the red seeds and murdering four people, who have also been forced to eat the seeds. When Thomas abruptly disappears, York suspects his involvement in the crimes, a hunch that is confirmed when Thomas kidnaps him. While tied up, York realizes his romantic feelings for Emily, who searches for him with Forrest Kaysen (Doug Boyd), a traveling tree salesman. It is also revealed that Anna, Becky, Thomas, and his younger sister Carol all belonged to a secret sex club created by George; jealous of George's romantic interest in Emily, Thomas draws her into a physical confrontation with him and dies when he falls on a hook. York, now rescued, reveals that he believes the copycat raincoat killer is George. Emily and York find the final victim, Carol; before dying, Carol attacks Emily out of jealousy as well and forces her to ingest some of the red seeds, which sickens her to the point of unconsciousness. York leaves Emily in Kaysen's care to confront George. George confesses to being the murderer and has gained shape-shifting powers as the result of eating the red seeds; in the ensuing fight, York kills him. Afterward, York realizes that, while George was the Greenvale killer, he could not have been responsible for the other similar murders nationwide and was likely just a pawn. He eventually discovers that Kaysen is responsible and that the symbol seen close to all the victims was a tree. York finds that Kaysen has planted a tree inside Emily's stomach, and the sight causes him to recover his repressed memories: as a child, Zach witnessed his mother (Rebecca Wink) dying with a tree sprouting from her body, with his father (David Rosenthal) and Kaysen in the room. His father was unable to kill her out of mercy, leading to a more agonising death for her, and then he killed himself. Unable to cope with the trauma, Zach psychologically switched places with his newly created other personality, York. Though unable to save Emily, Zach kills Kaysen, revealed to be a supernatural entity from the Red World and messenger of the Red Tree, and leaves the town with optimism for his future. In the closing scene, the spirits of York, Emily, Thomas, and the Greenvale murder victims are seen happily residing in a parallel plane of existence. ===== The film opens with Eagle Boy, a young man who is on a vision quest. It then cuts to the present, where a 17-year-old Lakota named Shane Chasing Horse is living on the Pine Ridge reservation. He is in trouble because he owes some money to a local gang—money he used to buy a beautiful ring for Mae Little Wounded, a girl he likes. Meanwhile, his mother asks him to drive his grandfather, Pete Chasing Horse, a storyteller, down to the powwow. Shane is reluctant. However, when the gang comes after him, Shane changes his mind and heads out to the powwow with his grandfather, who agrees to give him his truck once they reach the powwow. Grandfather tells Shane the story of a young Lakota man who tries to win the hand of Bluebird Woman. He also tells the story of how a thunder spirit falls in love with a Mohawk woman and brings her up into the ethereal world of Sky Woman, and of how she raised their son back in her village until he was struck by one of the villagers and brought back to live with his father. Later, when a young redheaded man who is eager to learn about Native culture and hoping to be adopted by a Native American family asks to ride with them to the powwow, Shane says no. His grandfather then tells him the Kiowa story of Tehan, a white man who lived among the Kiowa and fought bravely alongside them, and Shane relents and lets the redhead ride with them. Shane's grandfather then tells how Eagle Boy follows the advice of a shining spirit elk, and seeks out an old woman who can give him weapons with which to slay the mighty serpent Uncegila. He is repulsed when the ugly old woman embraces him, but reacts quite differently when she transforms into a beautiful younger woman. She reproaches him, but gives him what he needs. Eagle Boy slays Uncegila, whose heart instructs him and grants him great power and prophetic visions. Eventually, the gang members who are after Shane catch up with them, but accidentally drive their car off a cliff and into the Rio Grande River while chasing him. Shane dives in and saves them, and his struggle is contrasted with Eagle Boy's underwater battle with Uncegila. The gang members ride with them for a ways, until they and the redheaded hitchhiker leave them in order to travel with a group of attractive young women who are also headed to the powwow. As they travel, Shane's grandfather tells Shane many other stories: several are about the trickster Coyote and Iktomi the spider. Another is about a young Pawnee man and his mother who are scorned by the rest of their tribe until the young man finds an unwanted dun pony who brings them good medicine. As Shane and his grandfather look up at the stars, the grandfather tells the story of the Quillwork Girl and her seven star brothers, which is about a Cheyenne girl who puts her faith in a dream and searches for seven brothers, but who must then contend with the Buffalo nation. The next story is about a young Chinook woman who sacrifices herself in order to cure her village of a terrible sickness, and the next is about a young Blackfoot hunter who cannot let go of the memory of his father. Shane and his grandfather continue their journey, losing their truck along the way and continuing on horseback and on foot. The two become closer. However, it then turns out that Shane's grandfather has led them not to the powwow but to Shane's father's (Sam Chasing Horse) trailer home. Shane is outraged and disappointed to be tricked, but is persuaded to stay the night. The next morning Shane finally makes peace with his estranged father. However, he then becomes grief-stricken when he discovers that his grandfather had meanwhile died in his sleep. Shane decides to continue on to the powwow on horseback, and his father says that when Shane comes home he'll be there too. The ending of Eagle Boy's story is revealed: Eagle Boy decides that he wants to live like other men, and disobeys the heart by revealing it to the entire tribe (to whom it appears to be nothing more than an ordinary stone). At the powwow, Shane takes on the role of a storyteller, and children gather around him to listen. ===== Set in June, 1986, fewer than two years before Feynman's death, in Feynman's office at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the play follows Feynman through a day of his life. As the real Feynman does in his books What Do You Care What Other People Think? and Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, the stage character talks directly to the audience; we learn from this and from phone calls with off-stage characters that Feynman is to appear that night playing his bongo drums in a student production of the musical South Pacific, that he is expecting a delegation from the Russian Republic of Tuva, which Feynman is whimsically determined to visit (as detailed in Ralph Leighton's book, Tuva or Bust!), and that he is eager to make his views known in the final report of the Rogers Commission charged with the Challenger disaster. From phone conversations between Feynman and his doctors, we also learn that Feynman's cancer has returned, and that his doctors are urging him to undergo further surgical procedures, which are not without their own risk. Feynman's conversation with the audience also touches on a number of additional topics well-known to readers of his autobiographical writings: the Manhattan project and safe-cracking, how he learned to draw, his father, as well as musings on physics and, more generally, on the nature of science and knowledge. In the second act, the play returns to Feynman's study later at night on the same day, after the performance is over. We meet the only other character in addition to the main protagonist: a (fictional) young student by the name of Miriam Field, who has attended one of Feynman's lectures and both witnessed his bongo performance and attended the after-play party. Where Feynman had earlier grown dispirited both by his own condition and by memories of his long-dead wife, Miriam manages to pull him out of his depression. Feynman informs his doctors that he will consent to have surgery, after all; but requests that they awaken him from anesthesia if they determine that he is about to die intraoperatively, because "that would be an interesting experience". ===== A young couple named Jim and Lori loses control of their motorbike while riding in a forest. With Jim hurt, Lori finds no help and returns, only to find Jim dead hanging from a tree before she is killed by a trap. Weeks later, a group of campers consisting of Dennis, Margaret, Wendy, Marco, Nathaniel, Boone, Eggar, Vanessa, Mike, and Melanie, arrive at the forest. The group makes a clearing and spend the night around a bonfire telling a story about a young woman who was raped and became insane enough to flee into the forest. The next morning, the group discover that Marco and Eggar are missing. While the others search for them, Mike takes a swim with Melanie and later they have sex, during which Mike is stabbed to death by a camouflaged killer who then kidnaps Melanie. Nathaniel and Dennis find an abandoned cabin containing an old grave. Dennis enters the cabin and Nathaniel hears him scream, only for it to be a prank by Dennis trying to scare him. While searching the cabin for food and items, they find a severed wolf's head in a cabinet and are shaken before returning to the camp. That night, the killer appears near Margaret in her sleep and she hysterically tells the others what she saw. The campers also find Marco, who has returned to the camp. After Vanessa gets angry at the men for scaring the girls, she walks off alone to the outhouse; she screams when Mike's severed head falls onto her, and the group comes to her aid. The group spends one more night at the camp, and unsuccessfully search for Melanie who they assumed was still with Mike. In the morning they go to the cabin to look for the killer, unaware that he is down in the basement with a captured Melanie, and they flee with the rafts after finding a human hand jar. While rafting along the river, the body of Melanie is tossed onto the boat by the killer which causes panic among the group. Burying Melanie near the river, the group continues on to the end of the river and find their empty, broken-down bus. They spend the night there, but the killer attacks and gets inside the bus before the group escapes out the back door. Wendy gets separated and is slashed by the killer, where the group comes to her and gives her first aid. In the morning, the group gathers supplies and camouflages themselves. Dennis climbs one of the highest trees, where he sets a spiked log trap. Marco begins calling out for Eggar, who appears and begins to strangle Marco. The group attacks Eggar, believing he is the killer. While Dennis is watching the rest of the group fight, the killer murders him from behind and rises up to scream; it is revealed that Eggar's missing, feral mother is the killer. As she walks toward the group, she sets off the trap and is mortally wounded. The film ends with the group watching in horror as Eggar's mother hangs dead in the trap. ===== The film is a satire of the women in prison film genre and deliberately implements many of the tropes commonly found in such films. Such scenes include nude shower scenes, fight scenes, and a suggested romantic relationship between one of the inmates and an administrator. The overall plot involves a new influx of girls coming to the school. They are immediately confronted with Charlie Chambliss, who is the de facto leader of the school and has an exceedingly close relationship with the head of the ward, Edna. Charlie and her circle are given special privileges by Edna and it is suggested that Charlie and Edna enjoy a more intimate relationship. Charlie runs a secret society of girls who are loyal to her and to whom she offers protection. The two main new girls break several of Edna's rules and are punished decisively for their infractions. Jenny comes to the school after becoming mixed up in a shoot out. When she and another group of girls arrive, they are forced to strip in front of the prison nurse and then take a shower, while being informed that they will be "inspected inside and out." Afterwards, they are forced to stand naked along a wall while the nurse sprays them with delousing fluid. At one point while being deloused, the nurse tells the girls to "bend over ... spread them wide",suggesting that the girls will be given their cavity checks. Jenny later tries to break out after befriending a male driver with whom she has a romantic encounter in the back of his truck. She makes arrangements that he will drive her off the premises but is discovered by a guard and after a scuffle she is apprehended and immediately cast into isolation, where Edna forces her to strip naked before using a firehose to spray her with cold water. Lisa is a runaway who is captured and placed in the reform school, here Jenny is confronted by Charlie and inevitably results in a fight, Jenny is swiftly overwhelmed and left lightly hurt in-front of the other girls, She suffers several losses while at the school including her stuffed bunny and a cat she tends to which was originally found while the girls were out performing hard labor. The cat is discovered by Edna in the dorms and she chases it until finally stomping it to death. Lisa is punished with isolation. After the death of her cat, Lisa attempts to climb to the top of the tower, followed closely by Edna. When she reaches the top she stumbles backward as Edna confronts her, breaks through the barriers and falls to her death. This causes Jenny to smash through a window, which starts a riot which is only quelled when Warden Sutter shoots a shotgun into the ceiling. The film culminates in a protest scene after Dr. Norton, a psychiatrist, forces a meeting of administrators over the conditions and treatment of inmates at the school. She intended to have Jenny testify but a doctor determines, despite all evidence to the contrary, that she is ill and will not be able to attend. Therefore, four other inmates are chosen and none of them has any complaints. During the meeting Jenny knocks out a guard and steals her keys, which allows all the girls to march out into the main open area and voice their grudges. Edna, however, gets a hold of a gun and opens fire on them. Edna shoots Charlie and climbs up the tower from which Sutter has broadcast religious-oriented messages as the girls are going to sleep. Charlie climbs a fence and commandeers a school bus, which she drives toward the tower with Edna standing at the top. Just before impact, Charlie leaps from the bus and it explodes as it hits the tower. The scorched body of Edna tumbles to the ground and many of the girls cheer. Charlie crawls and before she dies shouts out, "See you in hell!" to Edna. The final scene shows Jenny released and getting into a cab. She waves at Dr. Norton, who is implied to be in charge of the new, more benevolent order at the school, and three other girls who are still incarcerated. ===== George Tatum has been incarcerated in a psychiatric institution in New York City for many years after sexually mutilating and murdering a family in Brooklyn. During his incarceration, George undergoes an experimental procedure that "reprograms" his brain, reforming him into an upstanding citizen. However, he remains plagued by hazy nightmares of a violent incident from his childhood. Upon his release, George visits a peep show in Times Square, which triggers flashbacks to his mother's murder. The following day, George obtains a car and leaves New York, heading south to the Florida home of his ex-wife, Susan Temper, their daughters Kim and Tammy, and their mischievous young son, C.J., who frequently plays twisted pranks that disturb both her and babysitter Kathy. His car breaks down en route in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, leaving him stranded overnight. There, he follows a woman home from a local bar, and brutally slashes her to death. Back in New York, George's psychiatrists discover he has fled the city, and begin tracking his movements. Meanwhile in Florida, Susan is carrying on a relationship with her boyfriend, Bob Rosen, and struggles with her responsibilities as a single mother. Her house begins receiving numerous disturbing phone calls, which no one realizes are in fact being made by George. One night while Susan is out, Kathy receives multiple calls, which unnerve her. C.J. begins claiming he is being followed by a strange manhis father George, unbeknownst to himbut Susan dismisses it as another of his pranks. Later, George murders two of C.J.'s classmates in an abandoned house during a game of hide-and-seek. The following day, Kathy agrees to babysit the children while Susan attends a party. During the night, George infiltrates the house and murders Kathy with a rock pick. After donning one of C.J.'s Halloween masks, George pursues the children, who have barricaded themselves in the upstairs bedrooms. C.J. obtains a revolver from his mother's dresser, and uses it to shoot George multiple times, eventually killing him. As he lies dying, George has a full recall of his childhood, including a memory of catching his father engaging in sadomasochistic sex acts with another woman, during which he brutally murdered them both with a felling axe. Susan returns home to find police at her house removing George's body while C.J., sitting in a police car, winks into the camera knowingly. ===== The book club is the brainchild of fiftysomething six-time divorcée Bernadette (Kathy Baker), who develops the idea when she meets Prudie (Emily Blunt), a prim, married high school French teacher in her mid-20s, at a Jane Austen film festival. Bernadette plans to have six members discuss all of Austen's six novels, with each member hosting the group once a month. Also inducted into the club are Sylvia (Amy Brenneman), a fortysomething librarian recently separated from her philandering lawyer husband Daniel (Jimmy Smits) after over two decades of marriage; Sylvia's 20-something lesbian daughter Allegra (Maggie Grace); Jocelyn (Maria Bello), a happily unmarried control freak and breeder of Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and Sylvia's friend since childhood; and Grigg (Hugh Dancy), a science fiction fan invited into the group by Jocelyn with the hope to match him with Sylvia. As the months pass, each of the members develops characteristics similar to those of Austen's characters, and reacts to events in their lives similarly to their fictional counterparts. Bernadette is the matriarchal figure who longs to see everyone find happiness. Sylvia clings to her belief in steadfast love and devotion (eventually reconciling with Daniel). Jocelyn denies her own feelings for Grigg while playing matchmaker for him and Sylvia. Prudie is encumbered with her inattentive husband Dean (Marc Blucas), and free-spirited, marijuana-smoking, aging hippie mother Mama Sky (Lynn Redgrave), who dies in a car accident; Prudie finds herself desperately trying to resist her feelings for seductive student Trey (Kevin Zegers), meanwhile accusing Dean of coming on to her high- school acquaintance at Mama Sky's funeral. Allegra, who tends to meet her lovers while engaging in death-defying activities, feels betrayed because her current partner, aspiring writer Corinne (Parisa Fitz-Henley), has used Allegra's life as the basis for her short stories. Grigg is attracted to Jocelyn and mystified by her seeming lack of interest in him, marked by her failure to read the Ursula Le Guin novels he hoped would interest her. He also serves as the comedic foil to Jocelyn's and Prudie's very serious takes on the books. The last meeting is held at the beach. Daniel wants to join the book club after reading Persuasion with Allegra at the hospital (after Allegra suffered a concussion from an indoor climbing accident); Sylvia lets Daniel in. Grigg brings his elder sister Cat Harris (Nancy Travis), who persuades Jocelyn to take a chance on Grigg because he loves her. Allegra brings Dr. Yep (Gwendoline Yeo), who treated her concussion. Prudie, the scheduled host, does not attend; she goes to meet Trey, but reconsiders after considering what Jane Austen would do. Prudie goes home to Dean and reads Persuasion with him, helping them rediscover their love. Daniel leaves a letter for Sylvia at her doorstep; upon reading it, she accepts Daniel back. Jocelyn finally reads the books Grigg gave to her, is surprised to find that she loves them, cannot sleep, and finishes them. She drives to Grigg's house, realises the very early time, and snoozes in her car. When Grigg exits his house, he sees Jocelyn's car and knocks on her window. Jocelyn finally gives in to her feelings and they both passionately kiss. One year later, the book club meets at Sylvia's library charity dinner. Grigg and Jocelyn are together; Sylvia and Daniel have reconciled; Prudie, who is pregnant, attends with Dean (who appears more enthusiastic about Austen); and Bernadette introduces her (seventh) husband. ===== John Radley's childhood was not a particularly nice one; his father's abandonment, an abusive mother, bullied by neighborhood kids and his pets had a tendency to die on him. Only his first crush Gretchen ever treated him with kindness. But this all ended when he was goaded into performing a balancing act, whereupon a malicious prank backfired and Johnny ended up plunging down a dried up well to greet a rock floor. Since then he has been in Oakhurst State mental hospital for over a decade. Left semi- comatose, he has only his now-distorted memories and nightmarish flashbacks for comfort. One night the continual flood of harsh images is too much for his psyche, and he comes to find himself badly disfigured and severely brain damaged, so much so that he can no longer feel any pain. Who will care for, let alone love, Johnny now? No one, he knows (in what's left of his damaged mind). He suffers a complete psychotic break, and after venting his fury on a nurse, turns his rage towards those responsible for his condition. Bursting out of his temporary accommodation, he storms off into the night, dead set on disposing of his old childhood tormentors, whose body parts he intends to offer up to the only person in his life who ever gave a damn about him—a certain girl by the name of Gretchen. ===== Isaac arrives at Aegis VII on the Kellion with Kendra and Hammond. During the journey, Isaac has been repeatedly watching a video message from Nicole. A docking malfunction crashes the Kellion into the Ishimuras landing bay, and the ship's quarantine is broken. Necromorphs kill all the Kellion crew, but Isaac, Kendra, and Hammond. Isaac navigates the ship, restoring systems and finding parts with which to repair the ship, so that they may escape. They almost succeed, but the Kellion is destroyed in a further malfunction. During these events, all three survivors begin experiencing escalating symptoms of psychosis and dementia, ranging from hallucinations to paranoia. During his exploration, Isaac learns through audio and video logs about the ship's presence and Necromorph invasion. The Ishimuras illegal mining operation on Aegis VII, which was designated off-limits by the Earth Government, was meant to find the Red Marker for the Church of Unitology. The Aegis VII colony was almost entirely wiped out by mass psychosis triggered by the Marker, causing killings and suicides. The Marker was brought aboard the Ishimura, along with survivors and bodies from the colony. A combination of the Marker's influence, factional fighting and the emerging Necromorph invasion resulted in the deaths of nearly everyone aboard. Isaac finds two survivors: Terrence Kyne, who has abandoned his belief in Unitology, and Challus Mercer, who has gone insane and worships the Necromorphs. Despite Isaac's efforts, Hammond is killed by a Necromorph, and Mercer allows himself to be transformed by them. Another ship, the Valor, arrives and is infected through an Ishimura escape pod containing a Necromorph; records show it was dispatched to remove all traces of the Ishimuras presence. Kendra kills Kyne before revealing her Earth Government allegiance, because Kyne threatened the Marker and the Necromorphs' controlling "Hive Mind". The Marker was a copy of an ancient alien artefact found on Earth, left on Aegis VII as part of an experiment that Earth now wants retrieved. Reunited with Nicole, Isaac sabotages Kendra's attempt to escape the Ishimura, then returns the Marker to Aegis VII, neutralising the Necromorphs and initiating Aegis VII's collapse. Kendra retrieves the Marker and reveals the truth to Isaac: that his encounters with Nicole were hallucinations created by the Marker to return it to the Hive Mind. Nicole's message had ended with her committing suicide to avoid becoming a Necromorph. Kendra is then killed by the awoken Hive Mind before she can escape with the Marker. After killing the Hive Mind, Isaac leaves on Kendra's shuttle, as Aegis VII is destroyed. In the shuttle, a distraught Isaac mourns Nicole, and is then attacked by a violent hallucination of her. ===== Inocencio Prieto y Calvo receives a letter telling him that he is the heir to his uncle's fortune of two million pesos, which he has only to claim by producing his baptismal certificate as proof of identity. However, as an illiterate, Inocencio has no idea of the contents of the letter. While waiting for the local druggist to wait on him so he can have the letter read to him, Inocencio is embarrassed to see that a customer's young daughter is already able to read while he, a grown man, cannot. He leaves without telling the druggist his problem, resolved to go to school and to wait to learn the letter's contents until he can read them for himself, so that never again will he have to share private matters with others because of his own ignorance. After registering at school, he stops by the local bank to ask for a job, having quit his previous employment that morning. Leaving the bank, he meets Blanca, an attractive young woman newly arrived in town, and shows her the way to her new place of employment, partly to avoid admitting he cannot read the written address. The daughter of Blanca's employer is entertaining her fiancé, Aníbal, who finds Blanca appealing and begins to make advances on her almost immediately. These advances are spurned each time; the final time, Aníbal warns her she will regret her refusals. Over the course of the film, Inocencio gradually learns to read, courts Blanca, and makes both friends and enemies at the bank. He foils a robbery and then a plot to make him look guilty; the bank manager is so pleased with his honesty that he gives Inocencio a 1000-peso reward, which the grateful man proceeds to spend on a new dress for his godmother, a traditional regional dress for Blanca to wear in a beauty contest, and new shoes for himself. While going about his cleaning work in the bank, Inocencio unwittingly drops the lawyer's letter -- which he still has yet to read -- and Fermín, a fellow employee with a grudge against him finds the item on the floor. On the day of the contest, Aníbal and Fermín, who are revealed to be cousins, conspire to make it appear that Blanca has stolen her employer's jewels and passed them to Inocencio. Though both are arrested, the trial is cut short when Fermín discovers Aníbal has betrayed him and gone alone to claim the inheritance, leading him to reveal the whole plot. Inocencio and his friends rush to Mexico City to thwart the attempt and denounce Aníbal, who is arrested at the lawyer's office after he arrives to claim the funds. The film concludes with Inocencio's and Blanca's wedding. ===== William Nessen, an American freelance journalist, travels to Aceh, Indonesia to cover the conflict which was taking place there at the time. Shot over a period of four years, The Black Road follows Nessen as he transforms from being an objective journalist to a supporter of the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM).The Black Road: on the front line of Aceh's war (2005) - australian screen While the 2004 tsunami made Aceh, an Indonesian Province on the northern tip of Sumatra, well known across the world, most people remain ignorant of its 27-year struggle for independence.Aceh Aceh.Net: Welcome to Aceh - About Aceh Scoop: The Black Road - On the Front Line Of Aceh's War William Nessen first travelled to Aceh in 2001, as a print journalist. At this point, Nessen had no plans for a film, but recorded footage which he intended to sell to television networks. He began to visit General Bambang Darmono, the leader of the Indonesian military in Aceh. Gaining the trust of General Darmono, Nessen was able to obtain information and shooting opportunities that would have been unavailable to most other journalists. During this period he fell in love with a trusted military translator, Sya’diah Syeh Marhaban, who was a spy for the separatist movement. They worked together, continuing to extract sensitive information from General Darmono. Nessen, as his collection of footage grew, thought of making a film. This idea would later evolve into The Black Road. Nessen and Marhaban were married in Aceh. Only a few days after the wedding Nessen’s best man, a human rights activist, was kidnapped and murdered by Indonesian security forces.The Black Road It became clear to Nessen that the independence movement was supported by the majority of the Acehnese. As his personal experiences began to influence him, he too began to support the GAM. He went to live on the front lines with the rebels many times, travelling between General Darmono and the guerrillas in secret. In total, Nessen spent more than a year with the GAM before the military realised what he was doing. He was hunted and almost killed by the Indonesian military, who accused him of espionage. After being ordered to stop reporting from rebel held areas, Nessen spent weeks running from the authorities. After many near-death experiences, he turned himself into the military and was then imprisoned for forty days. Following this he was deported to Singapore and banned from entering Indonesia for one year, a ban that has been renewed each year since 2004.Reporters sans frontières - Indonesia Reporters sans frontières - Indonesia: Officials deny entry to US journalist who covered war in Aceh from rebels’ side ===== "Risk hunters" are professionals who handle jobs considered too tough for normal law enforcement, such as kidnappings, combatting terrorism, and preventing murders. One man who stands above them all however is the legendary Chameleon Jail, who has the ability to manipulate his "kara" or internal human body energy in order to physically change his appearance into that of any other person. Throughout the series, he pursues several assignments on behalf of various clients given to him by Shall, a woman who runs a detective agency in New York City. All difficult, the successful completion of these assignments hinges on Jail's ability to change his appearance when the time is right. ===== Greta is 17, a bright and beautiful young woman. She is also rebellious as a result of her turbulent home life. Pushed aside by her mother, Karen, who is on her third marriage, Greta is shipped off to her grandparents for the summer. She is not happy about it and neither are the grandparents. She tells them that she fully intends to kill herself before the summer is over and compiles a notebook of suicide methods. Greta's snarky attitude results in her being offered a job as a waitress at a local seafood restaurant. While working there, her odd sense of humor makes her attractive to many customers. Greta falls for a charismatic short-order cook named Julie. When he reveals to her that he was once in a juvenile correctional facility for stealing cars, Greta is even more attracted to him. Julie tells her that his experience made him determined to do something positive with his life and he attempts to convince Greta to not give up on hers. He is alarmed when he sees Greta's "suicide list". Although Greta's grandparents Katherine and Joseph are initially concerned about her boyfriend's criminal past, Julie proves himself worthy of their trust and demonstrates that he truly cares for Greta. Joseph tells him about Greta's father, who committed suicide in front of Greta when she was very young. Julie demonstrates his respect for Greta when she attempts to lose her virginity to him. He tells her he will not be one of the things she checks off of her "to- do list" and that it has to be another time. The police come as a result of neighbors having seen Julie enter an upper story window. At first the grandparents are upset with Julie for being there. Greta is called inside, and explains to her grandparents he was there at her request. The grandfather goes outside and squares things with the police. Julie tells the grandparents that he sincerely cares for Greta. While the four are out sailing in Joseph's boat, Greta attempts to drown herself. Julie rescues her, but the fright still causes Katherine to have a mild heart attack. Katherine is given a positive prognosis by a doctor and she and her husband stay the night at a local hospital. Julie is mad at Greta, telling her that she should appreciate the life she has. The near catastrophe gives Greta a wake-up call and shows her how deeply her own actions affect those around her. Once Katherine gets back from the hospital, Greta is determined to show her how sorry she is. Katherine is still furious, telling Greta she doesn't really know what she is sorry about. They have a heart-to-heart conversation, interrupted by Greta's mother and her current husband, who have come to take Greta to a summer boot camp. The grandparents are shocked at the mother's abrasive behavior. Greta escapes to Julie who tells her that as messed up as she may be, a boot camp will never help her if she does not want to help herself. Julie's advice calms Greta and she returns to the house to find her mother has already packed up her things. Joseph arrives and interrupts them all telling Karen that Greta does not need a boot camp, she needs love, and that Greta and Karen will both be staying with them. The three women bond looking at old pictures and the film ends with Greta leaving her suicide notebook in the ocean and in a voice over (letter to her mom) thanking her for letting her stay for the rest of the summer with her grandparents. ===== Antonio (Vittorio De Sica) is in love with the midwife Annarella (Marisa Merlini), knowing that she has a son. Both of them are in love with each other, until the father of the kid, who also serves in the military, appears and, with the help of the priest Don Emidio (Virgilio Riento), is reunited with his son. Having to spend the next twenty months far from the village, Pietro (Roberto Risso) asks the marshal to take care of Maria (Gina Lollobrigida). Despite not being happy to spend time with the captain, because of her poverty and her need to collect the dowry, she goes to serve at the marshal’s house, since his maid, Caramella (Tina Pica), is ill. The villagers start spreading gossips about the marshal and Maria, which will reach to Pietro too. One day, during a lunch at the house of Maria's cousin, the marshal dances with her and is seen by both Pietro and Annarella. Seeing them dancing intimately, Maria and Pietro break up. As the relationship is over, Maria leaves the house and joins a dancing group. Her mother asks the marshal to help her, saying that she is under-aged. When the marshal goes for an enquiry, the owner of the dance company convinces the mother of Maria with money, while the marshal discovers that she is not actually under age. Maria tries to seduce the marshal but without success. Finally Pietro and Maria will be reunited and will leave the village. The marshal comes wave them goodbye at the station. While going back, he meets a middle aged bachelor lady who's going to the village as the new midwife. ===== Román Maldonado (Ricardo Darín) was born during a carnival fair held at "Luna de Avellaneda", a sports and social club located in Avellaneda, Buenos Aires province. He is made a member for life, and the club becomes a central part of his life. The club used to have over 8,000 members in its heyday, but in the 2000s membership has dwindled to some 300. The neighbourhood is decaying, the surviving inhabitants are struggling financially and gatherings are hardly what they used to be. To top things off, Román discovers his wife Verónica is having an affair, and their marriage finds itself at its worst. Together with Amadeo Grimberg (Eduardo Blanco) and Graciela (Mercedes Morán), friends from the club, he must fight for the survival of the place before it is sold off and turned into a casino. The film chronicles the ups and downs of this fight, as well as Amadeo's struggling relationship with Cristina (Valeria Bertuccelli), Román's family crisis and the difficulties Graciela has after her husband leaves. In the end, a vote to keep the club alive is defeated 33 to 26, and the main characters find themselves parting ways in a bittersweet manner. The ending is however upbeat, as Román finds hope in finding his old club membership card, and together with Amadeo hints that they will start a new one. ===== Ator The Fighting Eagle returns again, sans sidekick Thong, to the legendary realm of Dragor to do battle with Phaedra, an evil sorceress. Her main weapon is an unstoppable warrior, known as the Master of the Sword, who continuously battles Ator to a draw, until finally revealing his secret connection to the Blademaster. ===== Ivón, a chorus girl, and Hugo, a failed writer, turn up at a provincial hotel on a stormy night. They have come from Madrid with Carlos, Hugo's son, born nineteen years earlier after a casual affair. They decide to lean over the cliffs to look at the angry waves down below – and Carlos falls to his death. ===== A telephone operator is walking out with a handsome police sergeant; her father insists that the husband for her is a plump, comfortable grocery store owner. The Lady picks up her jewels from the jewellery and brings them home, followed by a jewel thief on a stolen bicycle. She puts them in her safe, and goes to give the telephone girl a present of a necklace in thanks for her work. As the Lady answers the telephone and accepts the Telephone Girl's effusive thanks, the door creaks open – it is the masked thief! She tells the girl on the other end of the line that she's being robbed. While the thief grills the lady, the telephone girl calls the police, but there's a riot and calls about that prevent her getting through. She runs out of the exchange and spots the sergeant conveniently riding by. He lifts her onto his horse and they gallop to the rescue. Meanwhile, with an implicit rape threat the thief has forced the lady to reveal the safe concealed behind a picture. Just in time, the sergeant bursts in as the thief escapes with the jewels. After a rousing fight, helped by the feisty telephone girl and neighbours including a lady in a huge hat, the sergeant drags away the thief. The lady rewards the sergeant and the lovers fall into each other's arms. ===== Jean-Marc Leblanc is a bureaucrat and a once passionate supporter of the Quebec sovereignty movement. His wife, Sylvie, and daughters are no longer interested in him. At work, he is repeatedly bothered by his superior Carole who berates him for issues such as taking longer breaks than allowed, and for calling black Canadian co-worker William a "Negro", though Jean-Marc insists he simply said William "slaves like a Negro" and William was not personally disturbed by it. Faced with a complete lack of a sex life, he tells his co-workers he is left with masturbation. Jean-Marc begins to entertain fantasies about women, and about revenge on his co- workers, while sharing how he feels his life turned out to be less than he anticipated. One of his fantasies revolves around a character named Veronica Star, a beautiful woman he showers with. Through speed dating, he also meets a female Lord of the Rings enthusiast who takes him to a Middle Ages-themed fair. ===== The friendship between two writers, one is a novelist, the other is a screenwriter. ===== After becoming stranded in a small town called Hope, Elizabeth "Liz" Chambers, (Jaimie Alexander) discovers her arrival was foretold a century earlier by the town's founding preacher Jonas Hathaway (Nick Chinlund) and that she is an integral part of his impending—and terrifying—rebirth. Forced to stay overnight in the town, Liz meets Sarah Austin (Hudson Leick), a reporter for a tabloid newspaper, who is in town to investigate legends of living scarecrows. The townspeople of Hope once sacrificed people by nailing them to crosses in the cornfields until a young girl alerted residents of the nearby town of Liberty. Horrified to learn of the murders going on in Hope, the townspeople of Liberty nailed the local preacher who spearheaded the sacrifices to a cross. Legend contends that one day he will be reborn. Sarah persuades Liz to accompany her to the cornfield. At the cornfield, Sarah takes photos of a scarecrow that she and Liz construct and hang on a cross, intending to use the photograph for the newspaper's front page. Sarah is later attacked and killed by the scarecrow, which comes to life. The scarecrow tries to kill Liz as well but she manages to escape in the squad car of a deputy, who is killed upon arriving at the scene. She drives to the sheriff's office, where she tells her tale. When the deputy is unable to reach anyone by radio or phone, he leaves Liz alone while he goes to find out the problem. Liz is able to fend off the scarecrow when it arrives, stalking her. She tries to flee in her car but sees that the engine has been removed. She takes refuge with the town's preacher (Ethan Phillips), but discovers that the preacher is the leader of the townspeople, who worship the spirit of the founding preacher. The preacher intends to bring the spirit back to life by fathering a child with Liz, whom the spirit can possess. The sheriff arrives in time to stop the townspeople, but loses consciousness in a car crash. When the clergyman tries to rape Liz, she fends him off and escapes. As she flees, she finds Sabrina (Chloë Grace Moretz), a child hiding in an underground shelter. Her parents were killed by the scarecrow, but she had escaped. Meanwhile, the townspeople set out in search of Liz. Liz hides Sabrina in a hole in the cornfield while she goes for help. She makes it to the next town only to find everyone dead. She is picked up by the sheriff, who escaped, and Liz tells him about Sabrina and jokes that the townspeople think she is a virgin. When they return to the cornfield, Liz discovers that the sheriff has been possessed by the spirit of the evil preacher. The preacher now goes in search of Sabrina as Liz is not pure. Sabrina sneaks into the farmhouse and sets it on fire. The townspeople let Liz and Sabrina escape while they burn the body of the preacher, as the prophecy tells them to. Liz flees with the child, but the spirit of the preacher possesses the body of Sabrina's father, who they encounter hanging on one of the crosses in the cornfield. Vines ensnare Liz as the animated corpse appeals to Sabrina. A murder of crows appear and the townspeople believe it is a good omen, until the crows attack and kill them, as well as attacking Sabrina's father, allowing Liz to extract herself from the vines. Liz and Sabrina escape, hitching a ride from a truck driver who is passing through the area. He turns on the radio, and a song comes on that reminds Liz and Sabrina of their ordeal. Liz turns the radio off, and they continue down the road, leaving Hope behind. ===== Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) is in the process of getting a divorce from her husband Jack (Christopher Meloni) after he left her for another woman. Their separation has caused a rift between Adrienne and her rebellious teenage daughter Amanda (Mae Whitman). One morning when picking up Amanda and his son Danny (Charlie Tahan) for a weekend visit, Jack tells Adrienne he still loves her and wants to move back home. Adrienne tells him she needs time and space to think. Adrienne drives to Rodanthe, North Carolina to look after a friend's (Viola Davis) bed-and-breakfast for the weekend; a rustic, romantic house right on the beach, and partially in the surf at high tide. The only guest for the weekend is surgeon Paul Flanner (Richard Gere), who arrives at the inn with his own emotional baggage. He suffers from flashbacks of a surgery that ended tragically, which has turned him cold and frustrated. The family of the patient who died, who live in Rodanthe, is suing him. A storm arrives in Rodanthe, and Paul and Adrienne team up to protect the inn. They dine together, share stories, and eventually turn to each other for emotional comfort. A genuine romance is born and they fall in love. With Adrienne's advice and moral support, Paul finds the courage to visit the deceased patient's widower. Paul also carries guilt for passing up a relationship with his son Mark (James Franco) in favor of his career and eventually decides to go down to South America, where he is working as a physician, to see him. During their separation, Adrienne and Paul exchange numerous handwritten letters expressing their longing to be with each other again. On the evening that Adrienne and Paul are to reunite, he does not show up. Adrienne is unable to determine from the airlines if he was on his flight back from South America. One afternoon, Mark arrives at Adrienne's door with a box of Paul's personal belongings. Paul has been killed in a flash mudslide. Mark thanks Adrienne for "giving him back the father he knew when he was a child". Over the weeks that follow, Adrienne struggles with the unbearable grief of losing Paul. Eventually, Amanda (now wiser and more mature) is able to coax the story from her mother. This is a turning point for their relationship, and Adrienne begins to deal with her loss. She tells her daughter the story of a very special type of love, the kind she found with Paul, and encourages her daughter to seek that for herself someday. Adrienne returns to Rodanthe and is finally granted a respite from her heart-rending sadness when, during a solitary sojourn along the beach, she looks up to see a small herd of magnificent wild horses thundering by her. She, her children and her best friend walk down to the dock where Adrienne and Paul had once danced, and Adrienne is finally able to say goodbye to him. ===== Just before she dies, an elderly married woman stashes the horde of money she's secretly accumulated beneath the false bottom of an old shipping trunk. After her death, her husband, believing himself penniless, has to leave their old home and move in with his son's family, where he's treated with no respect or consideration. Also on the scene is a newly hired kindly young housekeeper (Mary Pickford); she and the old gentleman become close friends and eventually run away together (taking the old shipping trunk with them). ===== A British army officer, Captain James Wingate, is left disgraced when he takes the blame for his cousin Henry's misappropriation of the regiment's charitable fund. He is also in love with Henry's wife, Diana, who loves him in return and knows he is innocent and her husband guilty. They both agree he must leave the country to save her marriage and their honour. He heads to the Wild West of the United States, taking over a ranch in Montana. A local bootlegger, Cash Hawkins, wants James' land as a smuggling route from Mexico, and also tries to force a beautiful Indian woman, Naturich, to his will. James rescues her, earning her gratitude and love; when Cash Hawkins openly comes in to kill him, James does not resist because he is pining over a picture of Lady Diana and wants to die. Naturich shoots Cash dead. The sheriff and his friends are for Cash and against James, but cannot pin Cash's "murder" on James; Naturich goes unsuspected. She follows James home and saves him from two of Cash's friends who shoot and wound him; in gratitude, he lets her stay with him. We later learn that he marries her and they have a son, Hal. Years later, Henry, who is being unfaithful to Diana, is killed in a hunting accident, and confesses to the theft as he dies. Sir John Applegate, Diana's friend, finds out James' whereabouts and arrives at the ranch with her, on Hal's fifth birthday. The little boy is glorying in the model railroad James' ranch hands have given him and being lukewarm about his mother's handmade wooden horse. James longs desperately to return to England, and is agonized by what might have been with Diana; however, he remains true to Naturich and introduces her as his wife to the surprised guests. Later, Sir John convinces James to let him take Hal back with him to England, where the boy will be educated in the finest schools and become worthy to inherit the earldom. When her son is taken against her wishes, a grieving Naturich goes to the hills to pray; as Sir John and Diana prepare to leave with Hal, the sheriff and his friends turn up to arrest or shoot Naturich, havingafter more than five years of top notch detective workfound her purse at Cash's death scene and realizing that she killed him. Naturich sneaks back in time to see her son depart; she goes into the boy's room, and, as James has a standoff at gunpoint with the sheriff on the front steps, she shoots herself, holding the wooden horse she made for Hal. All hear the shot and rush in, and Naturich dies in James's arms. ===== A decade ago, an orphanage has been rebuilt after being burned down following accusations of child molestation and abuse from the building's custodian, resulting him to a psychotic breakdown leading him to a mass murder. Years later, a group of medical students are brought in by pediatrician-turned doctor to rebuild the building as a foster home, unbeknownst that a masked assailant is within the area and is stalking them. ===== In New York City, high-strung equity trader Joy Ellis McNally is dumped by her fiancé at a surprise birthday party she throws for him. At the same time, easy-going carpenter Jack Fuller is fired from his job by his father, Jack Sr. Both become emotionally distraught and, with best friends Toni "Tipper" who's a bartender, and Jeff "Hater", a lawyer, take a debauched trip to Las Vegas. Joy and Jack meet by chance when they are given the same hotel room because of a computer error. After clearing up the misunderstanding and receiving upgraded rooms and coupons to various clubs, they party and drink together and end up getting married. The next morning, they realize it was a mistake and decide to divorce. Before they do so, Jack uses a quarter Joy gives him in a slot machine. He hits a three million dollar jackpot and Joy reminds Jack that they are married and hence, she is entitled to half of the money. The couple return to New York, where they attempt to divorce. The judge declares that the couple cannot divorce until they attempt to co-exist for six months, while attending weekly sessions with Dr. Twitchell, a marriage counselor. If they work at the marriage but still want to divorce after six months, each will be permitted to keep half the winnings. If either party does not cooperate, the money will be tied up in litigation by the judge. The newlyweds devise more and more cunning schemes to undermine each other, such as Jack telling Joy that their counseling session is canceled to prove she's not committed, and Joy inviting girls to their apartment to try to get Jack to cheat on her, throwing a party where Jack's friend Dave shows up. Jack gives Joy's ex-fiancé, Mason, her engagement ring back without Joy knowing. However, at Joy's job retreat, Jack and Joy find themselves developing an unexpected attraction to one another, and they soon realize that being with each other has brought out the best in both of them. After they get back from the retreat, it's time for the judge to decide what happens to the money. On her way to the hearing, Joy sees her ex-fiancé Mason, and he tells her that he wants her back. He gives her back the engagement ring and tells her that she is good enough for him. Joy realizes that Jack set her up to get back with Mason and cheat on Jack so that they will be divorced. Joy walks away from Mason and goes to the hearing. At the hearing, their marriage counselor testifies that the couple tried to work on their marriage. The judge decides that they will split the remaining 1.4 million dollars (after taxes, bills Joy ran up, and money Jack spent on his new woodworking business). Joy tells the judge she doesn't want any of the money and as she leaves she gives the engagement ring to Jack, telling him she doesn't want anything from him. Joy gets the promotion she'd been working for, but declines it, telling her boss she would rather be happy doing nothing than doing something she hates and being miserable. Jack's parents tell him they think it looks like he and Joy are in love. Realizing his mistake, he goes to find her. Tipper tells Jack that she quit her job and that nobody knows where she is. He suspects that she has gone to a beach (Fire Island, New York) that she told him about as the only place that makes her feel truly happy. Finding her, Jack asks her to be his wife (again) and she says yes. ===== Evan Danielson (Eddie Murphy) is a successful financial advisor, who had been working at the same securities firm for eight years as their top account manager, until Johnny Whitefeather (Thomas Haden Church) was hired as his rival. Whitefeather seems to have the whole company under a spell as he spiels his nonsensical idioms filled with Native American mumbo jumbo. The top executives seem more content with chanting Indian style noises rather than listening to how they can make money through sound investments. When Evan discovers that his daughter, Olivia (Yara Shahidi), is able to tell the future within the financial world by using her "goo-gaa" comfort blanket and her imaginary friends (Queen Qwali and Princesses Kupida, Sopida and Mopida), he discovers he has an invaluable upper hand now at the office. During work, Olivia accidentally draws all over Evan's 11:00 worksheets for a meeting. Outraged, Evan goes to the meeting and he shows off the paperwork and explains that ChemStar is sparkly, and Aerodyne and Yellowfin will get married, confusing his colleagues. Evan thinks he is about to be fired, but his boss informs him that all his predictions came through. The share price of ChemStar shot up, while Aerodyne and Yellowfin were preparing to merge. After only a couple of days with Olivia, Evan rediscovers the inner child within himself and has fun playing imaginary games with Olivia. Whitefeather becomes suspicious and begins to search for Evan's secret. When he finds out that Evan was just playing with a wakalyapi blanket, Whitefeather purchases a six thousand dollar blanket and forces his son to tell him the "future" and makes him extremely hyperactive by making him drink many cans of Red Bull. Whitefeather and Evan are now competing for the position of heading the Western division of the company D.D.E. In order to be prepared for the most important presentation of his life, Evan must once again invoke the use of the Goo-Gaa blanket and meet up with the princesses. Olivia is spending the night at her friend's house, and there is no way for Evan to obtain the Goo-Gaa without taking it from her. Also, the presentations will be held on the day of Olivia's class play. Evan manages to get Olivia to give him the Goo-Gaa, but she is soon seen crying because he seems to care only about the blanket, not her. Evan returns home and tries to get the princesses' attention. Evan then starts working on his presentation. As hours pass, Evan stretches, and the Goo-Gaa falls on the floor, but he continues working without noticing. Evan decides to go to the presentation instead of Olivia's class concert. Johnny gives his presentation, but his idea is too crazy for the owner of the company. Then it is Evan's turn. When he is about to present, Evan suddenly decides to go to Olivia's class concert, and leaves the presentation. As he drives over, Evan changes into a king costume. Back at the class concert, Olivia is about to sing her solo part, then all of a sudden Evan appears dressed as a king, and Olivia starts singing, delighted to see him. After the class concert, Evan starts talking to Olivia about how sorry he is for misusing her blanket, not caring about her, and for using the princesses for the wrong reason. Meanwhile, the owner of the company, D.D.E. appears, and wants to talk to Evan. He and Evan talk, and he decides to give the position to Evan because of how much Evan cares about his family. Evan accepts. Evan goes back to Olivia, for whom it is time to say good-bye to the princesses. They both start waving, and as a gust of wind blows, some leaves form into the shape of a person then fly off into the sky. Evan, Olivia's mother Trish, and Olivia leave happy. ===== During the last night of the carnival, several locals, including newly in-love couples Bob and Kathy, and Walker and Sheila waitresses timid blonde Lily and comely, nubile Ramona, along with her lover Tom, plus prankster Diddle and his girlfriend Sandy, decide to spend the night down at the river, where a double homicide occurred some nights before. But among the fairgoers is the one responsible for the deaths. Troubled over a tragic past, the killer decides to take the frustrations out with a machete on those blamed for all the misfortunes previously in life. Following the group back to the riverside stomping grounds, the killer sets about ensuring no one leaves the area alive. ===== After a hotel reservation mix up, two sisters Karen and Jennifer, and their friend Vicki Thompson, meet a friendly, but shady character named Ernest Keller who is the owner of a small town museum. Ernest convinces the three women into accepting an invitation for cheap room and board at his large farmhouse outside of town where his wife Virginia also lives. Once there, Jennifer and Karen leave for the holiday parade fair which Jennifer, a news reporter, is reporting on. At the festival, Jennifer is met by her soon to be ex-boyfriend, Tony, who gets her to stay behind to talk about their relationship. Meanwhile, back at the house, Vicki prepares to take a nap in her room, but is attacked by an unseen figure. The unseen eventually begins to pull Vicki into a floor vent when she tries to escape. The grate of the vent slams down on her neck, killing her. At the parade, Karen leaves Jennifer and Tony to talk, and makes her way back to the house alone—where she too is then attacked and killed by the unseen, as it attempts to pull her by her scarf through a vent into the basement. Virginia, who had been in the barn slaughtering a chicken, soon after comes inside to find the bodies of both Vicki and Karen. When Ernest arrives back at the house, he finds Virginia in shock. At this point, it is revealed through flashbacks that Virginia and Ernest are, in fact, brother and sister, and that Ernest had murdered his own sadistic father over 20 years ago in order to maintain the unnatural relationship. It is also revealed that they have an inbred son named "Junior" who has been kept locked up in the basement; the viewer also learns that Junior is often viciously beaten by Ernest. Ernest then convinces the subservient Virginia, who the viewer now realizes is taken advantage of by Ernest, that Jennifer must be killed upon her return, in order to keep everything under cover. When Jennifer gets back that evening, she is lured into the basement by Ernest, who then locks her inside. She wanders around looking for a way out, only to stumble upon Karen and Vicki's dead bodies. In a panic, she is confronted by Junior, who turns out to be an intellectually disabled and infantile grown man; at this point, it becomes clear that in all likelihood the Junior did not actually mean to kill Karen and Vicki. Ernest comes into the basement to finish off Jennifer, but Virginia, having had a change of heart, attempts to stop him. Ernest begins attacking Virginia, but Junior, enraged by the sight, intervenes to protect his mother. A fight breaks out between Junior and Ernest, while Jennifer escapes. The fight ends with Ernest gaining advantage over Junior, and knocking him in the head with a broken board containing a sharp, exposed nail, which causes Junior to collapse and die. Ernest then makes his way outside to hunt down and kill Jennifer with a hatchet. Just as she is about to be attacked, Tony pulls-up in his car, sees the commotion, and runs to help her, but trips and falls due to an existing leg injury. However, at the last possible moment, Ernest is shot in the chest from afar by Virginia and died. The film ends with Virginia in the basement cradling the dead body of Junior. ===== Note that there are several plot differences between the album, the film, and the stage production, though the general storyline is largely the same. ===== The original 1969 album was much more ambiguous in its specific plot points than the stage musical and film versions. Originally, the song "Twenty-One" was called "1921" as the album version took place in a post-World War I setting. In the film, the story was changed to be post-World War II and the song was changed to "1951". In both the album and stage versions, the father comes home and kills the lover in the confrontation. Ken Russell's film made a reversal and killed Mr. Walker's character, having the lover then assume the role of a step-father to Tommy. Pete Townshend made a number of lyrical changes to songs for the film version, many of which were utilized in the stage musical (these include revisions made to "It's a Boy", "Amazing Journey", and "Tommy's Holiday Camp", among others). The new pieces created for the film, however ("Bernie's Holiday Camp", "Champagne", "Mother and Son"), were not retained for the stage production. Instead, Townshend wrote a new piece called "I Believe My Own Eyes" in which the Walkers resign themselves to accepting Tommy's fate after years of trying. Tommy's experience with the Acid Queen (Scene 11) is also handled differently between the Album, Movie, and Stage productions. In both the album and movie, Tommy appears to have taken a drug from the Acid Queen which produced a visceral response in the otherwise mostly catatonic child. In the musical, his father brings him to see the Acid Queen, then changes his mind and leaves before Tommy partakes of her "charms." The most fundamental difference in the story is the finale, which was rewritten in 1993. Originally, Tommy instructs his followers to become deaf, mute, and blind themselves to find a heightened state of enlightenment. The crowd rejects this and turns on him. In the stage version, Tommy tells them the opposite: to not try to emulate him, but to rather live out their own normal lives. Upon hearing this message, the crowd still rejects him out of a desire to hear a bolder message from him. ===== Somewhere in Wichita, Kansas, David is a potential college football star who's just won a four-year scholarship to a college somewhere in Oklahoma. His friends decide to throw him a serious farewell party while his parents are out that night, including D.B, Russell, Joni, Lisa, Frannie, Doug, Chris, Brenda, Mason, and Chuck. Unfortunately, three uninvited guests secretly gatecrash these nightly celebrations. Two are convicts named Runner and Snake who've fled from prison, now hiding out in the home's cellar, while the third interloper is a former mental patient with a connection to David himself. The party goes into peak. Mason, sitting alone in a rocking chair, is impaled with a fireplace poker. Brenda, who feels rejected by Mason, leaves the party. While driving, someone in the back of the car grabs her, & she gets out and hides under a nearby abandoned car. The killer destroys the car lifter, which causes it to crush Brenda to death. Chris and Doug continue to watch pornography. Lisa, Russell, and D.B are drinking while Joni, a new classmate, feels insulted by them and runs upstairs while Lisa confronts Russell about his jokes. Soon after, Chris and Doug find another place to have sex. Joni talks to David about his friends. After making out, Chris goes to swim in the pool. Doug, resting in the sauna room, is killed by a light-bulb cable tossed into the hot stones, releasing poison gas. Soon after, Chris is killed by an axe to the head in the pool. David is losing his temper, which causes Joni to worry. Frannie and Chuck make out in the Jacuzzi. Chuck goes to the kitchen to cook when the killer forces his face into the grilling pan and stabs his neck. Lisa goes down to the cellar to get more wine when Snake strangles her to death. Runner is upset by all the killings, and Snake suffocates him with cling film. Russell is choked to death with a pool cue, and Frannie is electrocuted in the Jacuzzi. David's parents hurry home to deliver his prescription when a cop pulls them over for speeding. D.B finds the dead bodies of Russell, Runner, and Lisa. As he attempts to search for others, he is stabbed in the gut. Snake attacks David and is about to kill him when the dying D.B. arrives and fatally stabs Snake. David reunites with Joni and learns she is insane and killed the others except for Lisa. Joni then tries to stab David as his parents and the cop arrives and opens fire. It is revealed that David had a hyperactivity disorder since he was a kid that causes him to lose his temper. David is blamed for the murders while a still-insane Joni recovers in the hospital. ===== Whitey Action is daughter of Ben Benson, the New Yorker Chief of the London police. When The Queen is killed by a gang of mutants, known as The Freebies, Whitey guesses they are behind the murder while her father's forces focus their attentions on a single 'a mutant insurgent' suspect. Terry Phoo, a highly trained combat cop from the Hong Kong JKD police force is called in by Benson's superior, Lord Rothwell, as he is supposedly an expert at fighting mutants. However, his investigative skills leave much to be desired. Double Viking - Real Men Love Phoo ActionInside Track Image of the week: Phoo Action!C J Hubbard The Freebies are castigated by a mysterious group of sinister characters known as the Star Chamber for killing the Queen as they were supposed to mutate her, not murder her. The Star Chamber give the Freebies one last chance, demanding that William is mutated before he is crowned. While at a party in the Freebies nightclub, Whitey sees Princes William and Harry being led off by the Freebies, and she causes a big scene, preventing them from being captured but getting herself arrested by Terry Phoo. Convincing him that she is a special agent, he takes her to his hotel room, where, while looking for chocolate, she finds a case containing 'the Buddha's loincloth that transforms into a pair of hotpants, which she immediately tries on. Phoo is rather shocked by this, especially when she pulls a giant chocolate egg out of them and the legend of a 'Chosen One' who is destined to use their power is revealed. Whitey can pull anything she desires from the pants and Terry decides this means that she is the Chosen One.Richard Vine The Observer 13 February 2008 'One-shot wonders' Together Phoo and Action save the Princes from the evil plot to mutate them, and the subsequent plot to set the lead mutant, Jimmy Freebie, on the throne. The story ends, however, with William beginning to mutate as he is crowned, the Star Chamber seem to have won this battle despite the Freebies bungling and Phoo Action's best efforts.Timesonline Last Night's TV Andrew BillenDen of the Geek Phoo Action review Rob Mclaughlin ===== Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin) discuss her plans to renovate their condo. Not only are the plans costly, but Jan has forced several other changes at Michael’s expense, such as trading in both cars to buy her a Porsche Boxster. Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) discover that Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is running Schrute Farm as an "agritourism" bed and breakfast. They spend the night there, taking part in table-making demonstrations, beet wine-making, distributing manure and having Dwight read an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to them. That night, however, after a series of strange noises, Jim finds Dwight moaning in depression over Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey), while Pam discovers Dwight's Amish cousin Mose (Michael Schur) outside using an outhouse, to which she reacts "What century is this?" Michael begins leaving the office early, refusing to explain himself to his employees and lying to Jan of his whereabouts. In reality, Michael has been combating heavy debt by working as a telemarketer until 1 a.m. At the office the next day, Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak) arrives to find Michael unprepared for a presentation due to his moonlighting, and orders Michael to quit his night job or be fired from Dunder Mifflin. At the same time, Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) flaunts the fact that she is now dating Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) in an attempt to make Ryan jealous. They get into a fight later where Kelly says to the documentary crew, "Darryl Philbin is the most complicated man I have ever met. I mean, who says exactly what they're thinking? What kind of game is that?" After quitting his telemarketing job, Michael desperately attempts to come up with money. Kelly and Darryl’s continuing relationship proves to be dysfunctional, as she cannot comprehend his candor, and he finds her to be attractive yet "crazy." Creed Bratton (played by the real-life Creed Bratton) advises Michael to declare bankruptcy, which Michael does literally by walking into the office and shouting "I declare bankruptcy!", thinking this was all he needed to do. Upon reviewing Michael's financial situation, Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) finds that Michael spends a large amount on useless items like magic kits and bass fishing equipment. Meanwhile, Jim and Pam feel sorry for Dwight and attempt to cheer him up by posting a positive review of his bed & breakfast on TripAdvisor.com, which pleases him. However, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) gains Angela's approval to ask her out on a date by giving her the cat (named Garbage) that Dwight had tried to give Angela earlier, sending Dwight spiraling into crushing depression. Dwight retreats to the stairwell to moan. Jim joins him and recounts his days pining for Pam and how miserable it made him feel, saying he would not wish it on his worst enemy, Dwight included, to experience it, and Dwight realizes that he is not without friends. Having re- opened his old memories, Jim re-enters the office, goes right to Pam and kisses her passionately, and indirectly confesses in an interview that he loves her. Jim is quietly pleased when Dwight returns to his desk along with his annoying and overbearing personality. Jan learns of Michael's dismal finances by phone, and immediately harangues Michael about being irresponsible. He panics and attempts to hop a nearby train. However, the train is slowing down and comes to a complete halt, upon which he is seen sitting on the train singing to himself. Jan speeds to the office and Oscar tells her in which direction Michael ran. She then runs to the train yard. She tells him that she will stand by him as he did when she was fired. Eventually, they leave the train yard hand in hand. ===== When Chuck is given a goldfish, which he inadvertently keeps killing and sending Ryan to fetch replacements from the lobby; he tries to prove to Kelly he has what it takes to take care of a child after learning, in the previous episode, that he and Kelly have a ten-year-old daughter. Chuck asks Ryan to help him maintain the illusion of a healthy and alive fish. Meanwhile, Gary prepares to report on a Police taser story and sportscaster, Marsh is obsessed with a magic trick which he cannot figure out. ===== The movie shows the events leading up to and after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln as well as a look into the personal lives of both men. Lincoln is relieved that Richmond has fallen and the Civil War is over. He has contentious discussions with his Cabinet about the treatment of the defeated South. Many members want the Confederates punished, but Lincoln argues for mercy. The President is despised by many Southerners and receives numerous death threats. Lincoln has a rather fatalistic attitude about them but as a disturbing dream about hearing cries in the White House and seeing a coffin in the East Room surrounded by mourners crying out that an assassin has murdered the President. Booth is the most popular actor in the country (it is pointed out that only Lincoln has his picture taken more often). Coming from an acting family, he feels overshadowed by his father and brother and longs to make his mark on history. A fanatical Confederate sympathizer, Booth sees Lincoln as a tyrant and slavery as a proper way of life and assembles a motley group of Confederates, including former Soldier Lewis Powell and simple-minded David Herold. They form a plot to kidnap the President, but the war ends. Booth is outraged when he hears Lincoln making a speech promising African-Americans citizenship and the vote. His changes his plot from kidnapping to murder. Booth decides to assassinate Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, orders Powell to kill Secretary Of State William Seward, and orders another henchman, George Adzerodt, to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson. Later that night at the play at Ford's Theater, Booth kills Lincoln and escapes after stabbing Major Henry Rathbone, a substitute guest, and landed awkwardly on the stage. Almost the same time that happens, Powell attacks Seward who survives and the Vice President is unharmed because Adzerodt couldn't have the courage to shoot him. Lincoln is attended by the doctors before being carried to the Petersen House, where he died the following morning at 7:22 A.M. surrounded by his friends and family for the remaining 8 hours. After an intense manhunt for 2 weeks, Boston Corbett shoots Booth inside a burning barn surrounded by federal troops. He dies on the front porch saying that he died for his country. The credits reveal that Booth's henchmen and Mary Surratt were put on trial and hanged. Ironically, Lincoln's successor Johnson was much harsher on the defeated South than Lincoln would have been. ===== An antisocial alley cat complains about his hatred of people and how they complicate his life in the city. Because of human interference, he is unable to find easy food (a broom to the head stops his drinking freshly delivered milk) or deliver a proper serenade (which is ended by a thrown boot). He doesn't get along with children (who tie paper bags onto his feet), babies (one grabs him by the tail and flails him around a playpen), housewives (one hits him with a broomstick when he scratches their furniture), or dogs (one uses him as a punching bag, then plays dead after giving the cat a ketchup-covered axe as the owner arrives). He complains about not being let out of the house (to drink from a water cooler), or allowed to elope with female cats (he is about to kiss one, but instead a human fires a shotgun through his mouth and out his tail). The cat continues to complain about people as he walks along a busy sidewalk, with people stepping on him. One person kicks him down the street as he declares he wants to go to the moon, before he notices he is at the front of the "Moonbeam Rocket Company" (a sign in the window says "Any place in space - 5 minutes"). He notices rockets to Mars, Venus, a miniature rocket to Palm Springs, and a "Moon Special," which he enters. The cat pushes the ignition (below it on the wall is a sign reading "P.S. Hold on to your hats"), and takes off immediately. Buildings and stars duck out of the way and signs reading "NO VACANCY" appear on planets as he passes them. The rocket skywrites "Eat at Joe's" and punches a hole in the Big Dipper before the Little Dipper moves to catch the leakage. The rocket then bounces pinball-style from star to star (with points being displayed for each "bounce") until it registers "TILT" upon lunar impact. After the crash, the cat revels in his newfound solitude, but the silence is quickly cut short as he meets his noisy new neighbors, in order: *A bicycle horn tooting itself *A steam whistle blowing *A disembodied mouth and hands repeatedly saying "Mammy, Mammy, Mammy" in the style of Al Jolson *A self-playing accordion *A yo-yo going up and down with the sound of a slide whistle *A manual fire engine siren operating itself *A tire repeatedly having blowouts by running over nails *A claw hammer chasing a nail (the hammer pounds the cat into the ground before pulling him out) *A tube of lipstick chasing a pair of giggling lips (the tube applies the lipstick to the cat's mouth; then the lips kiss the cat's mouth) *A hand and scissors chasing a piece of paper (the scissors quickly cut the cat into a paper doll chain; two hands then stretch them out) *An invisible dog chasing a fire hydrant *A diaper, a safety pin, and a bottle of baby powder (which overtake and diaper the cat and shove a baby bottle in his mouth; when he has a temper tantrum his head is diapered as well) *A flower running away from a shovel (when the plant passes the cat, the shovel digs a hole and plants him; after watering, the cat "sprouts" and quickly blossoms with a rose in one ear and a carnation in the other; a hand pulls him out of the ground and puts him in a vase) *A pencil chased by a pencil sharpener (the sharpener turns the cat's tail into a pencil point; he writes "Chump!" on a nearby rock and draws an arrow indicating himself) Realizing that his original home was much better in comparison to his new surroundings on the moon, the cat pulls down a golf course backdrop, places himself on a tee and sends himself back to Earth with one swing of a golf club. He returns to the same sidewalk he left in "the good ol' U.S.A." and expresses his newfound appreciation of his home and people, who continue to walk over him. ===== Colonel Tony Nelson is on a top-secret space mission for NASA and Jeannie does not know of his whereabouts or when he will be returning home to hear their son Tony Jr.'s academic presentation speech. When Jeannie goes to NASA to question General Wescott about her husband's mission, he refuses to co-operate. To make matters worse, her jealous and mischievous sister Jeannie II reminds Sham-Ir (the chief genie) that Jeannie cannot remain in the plane of reality for more than three months without an earthly master, and Tony has been away for a long time. Sham-Ir gives Jeannie two weeks to either find her husband or a new master (a single male only) or else she must return to Mesopotamia forever. So, Jeannie begins her desperate search for a temporary master, which leads her to a singles bar and other misadventures. ===== The story takes place in the mid 7th century, predominantly in Tang China and Goguryeo. Where Yhun Oh-Rhang is sent to find his eldest Hyung (brother), Pa Goon-Sung who disappeared after leaving for training in China years ago. ===== Mansour works at an Egg and Hen Company where he is gunning for a promotion to manager. When he finally gets it, he runs into some trouble and is replaced by the boss's nephew Farzad Paknejad, who also begins to rent an apartment from Shokouh. Farzad and Parastoo begin to develop feelings for each other and later marry. Parastoo is a third-year psychology major at the local university and likes to try out the things she learns in class on her family. Rana is a flight attendant, and Hamed is a singer who is waiting to be discovered. He sings in nearly every episode and eagerly awaits the day that his album will be available and he'll be famous. Nazir Shanbeh is a sycophantic caretaker, who is given the place in the family by Shokouh. He is known for his various comical accents, high pitched screams and crying when not all things go his way. Despite the crazy adventures the characters go through, at the end of the day they are all one happy family who love each other. ===== Young Happy Howard (Joe E. Brown) has been secretly practising the skills of a circus clown like his father was. His father, however, has put the circus behind him and discourages him from joining the circus. When the circus comes to town, Happy runs away with it, taking menial jobs while hoping for a chance to perform. Happy becomes infatuated with Alice (Patricia Ellis), a young aerialist, helping her take care of her nephew. Alice arranges for a place in her aerial act for her alcoholic brother Frank who is recovering from the loss of his wife. On the day of the aerial act's first performance, Happy catches the brother drinking As he tries to stop him from drinking, the sister comes into the room and Happy pretends it is his liquor and drinks it all. Happy is discovered drunk by the circus owner and is fired. He is rejected by the girl and returns home to his father. He reads in the newspaper that Alice is now a big star. He returns to the circus to try and win her back and explain. Happy arrives to find the brother is drinking and they fight. Happy knocks him out and has to take his place in the show. Happy is a big success to the delight of his father in the audience and is forgiven by Alice. ===== ;Yeter's Death Retired widower Ali Aksu (Tuncel Kurtiz), a Turkish immigrant living in the German city of Bremen, believes he has found a solution to his loneliness when he meets Yeter Öztürk (Nursel Köse). He offers her a monthly payment to stop working as a prostitute and move in with him. After receiving threats from two Turkish Muslims for the work she does, she decides to accept his offer. Ali's son, Nejat Aksu (Baki Davrak), a professor of German literature, does not have time to respond to the prospect of living with a woman of "easy virtue" before Ali is stricken with a heart attack. He softens to her: he learns that she has told her 27-year-old daughter she is a shoe saleswoman, sending shoes to her in Turkey to support that story, and wishes her daughter could receive an education like his. Back home from the hospital, Ali suspects Yeter and his son may have had a liaison. When his drunken demands of Yeter cause her to threaten to leave, he strikes her and she dies from the blow. Ali is sent to prison. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter, Ayten (Nurgül Yeşilçay), and assumes responsibility for her education. Unable to locate her through her family and not having any recent photos of her, he posts flyers with Yeter's photo throughout the area, in hope that it will lead to the daughter. When he posts a flyer in a small German language bookstore that happens to be for sale, he finds himself charmed into buying it. ;Lotte's Death A plainclothes officer loses his gun on the street during a riot. A hooded figure scoops it up and is pursued on foot by a battalion of uniformed officers, barely managing to hide the contraband on a random rooftop. This is Ayten, member of a Turkish anti-government resistance group. When her cell is raided, she flees Turkey and takes up a new identity with political allies in Bremen, Germany. However, even there, she has a falling out when she is unable to pay them money she owes, and thus finds herself on the street with barely a euro to her name. Her mother's number is lost, so she lives illegally and searches for her in local shoe shops. Lotte, a university student, offers to help her with food, clothes, and a place to stay—a gesture which is not particularly welcomed by her mother, Susanne. Ayten and Lotte become lovers and Lotte decides to help Ayten search for her mother. The quest is cut short when a traffic stop exposes Ayten's illegal status and she attempts a claim of political asylum. Despite Susanne's financial support, Germany rules that Ayten has no legitimate fear of political persecution. She is deported and immediately imprisoned. Lotte is devastated. She travels to Turkey to try to free Ayten, but quickly realizes how little hope there is, as she is facing 15 to 20 years in jail. Susanne pleads with her to think of her future and return home. When Lotte refuses, her mother denies her any further assistance. Lotte gravitates to Nejat's bookstore and ends up renting a spare room from him. Finally granted a prison visit with Ayten, Lotte complies with her imprisoned lover's request and retrieves the handgun Ayten grabbed in the riot. But Lotte's bag, with the gun inside, is snatched by a crew of boys that she then chases through their neighborhood. When finally she finds them in a vacant lot, one of them is inspecting the gun. She demands he return it, but he points it at her and fires, killing her instantly. ;The Edge of Heaven (literally, On the Other Side) Upon his release, Ali is deported to Turkey, returning to his property in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. After her daughter's death, Susanne goes to Istanbul to see where her daughter had been living the past few months. She meets Nejat and reads her daughter's diary; she decides to take on her daughter's mission of freeing Ayten from prison. Susanne's visit to Ayten—an offer of forgiveness and support—leads the younger woman to exercise her right of repentance. As a result, she wins her freedom. Susanne asks Nejat about the story behind a Bayram festival they hear about, learning that it commemorates Ibrahim's sacrifice of his son Ishmael. She comments that there is the same story in the Bible, where Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. Nejat reminisces about being scared by the story as a child and asking his father if he would sacrifice him if God told him to. When asked by Susanne what his father's answer was, Nejat tells her that his father said "He would make God his enemy in order to protect me." Nejat removes the flyer of Yeter from the shop's noticeboard. He asks Susanne to look after his shop while he is gone, and drives to Trabzon, where his father is living. Susanne offers Ayten a place to stay with her at Nejat's house. When Nejat arrives in Trabzon, his father is out fishing, so he waits for him on the beach. ===== A wealthy couple leave their young child with a nanny while they attend a social event. While under the care of the nanny, the child wanders off into the yard and strolls down to the beach with her doll and gets into a boat. The boat drifts away out to sea and the girl is rescued by nearby fishermen who take her to their humble shack. Meanwhile, the nanny who was reading a book realizes the child’s disappearance and alerts the parents. When the parents arrive they find only the child’s bonnet and the doll’s stroller near the beach and assume the child had drowned. ===== Broken by grief after his mother's death, Olaf becomes a wanderer. He is treated cruelly until he is given a meal by a woman at the homestead where she lives with her husband and baby. Olaf is able to return her kindness when he overhears a plot to rob the settlers of their home. He alerts the couple and delays the would-be thieves long enough for the husband to file a claim on his land. Olaf is injured by the claim jumpers but he recovers, alone and forgotten by those he has helped. He then moves aimlessly along. ===== Very little happens in this avowedly anti-Romantic work. Jacques Marles seeks refuge from his Parisian creditors with his wife Louise in a dilapidated bungalow in the village of Granard, Ireland. Far from finding contentment in an idyllic summer landscape, the couple discover the countryside is grotesque and diseased. The local tinkers are greedy, cunning and obsessed with money. The novel documents the petty irritations and disappointments of the Marleses' day-to-day existence as well as their struggle with the English language. Interspersed with these realistic descriptions are three dream sequences, recounting Jacques' kinky fantasies in a highly Decadent style influenced by Baudelaire's Les Paradis artificiels and (possibly) the poems of Lautréamont. ===== Allgood Butts is a young promiscuous male hairdresser whose goal in life is to sleep with as many women as possible (already in the first scenes we are told he has slept with 389 women). His guardian angel (played by Diane Flacks) does not approve of his philandering and confronts him while he has sex with his 390th woman, telling him that if he sleeps with another woman, he'll die. Allgood's struggle with his temptation becomes even more difficult when two attractive women enter his life. ===== Clear's story is set on the island Harukajima. , the protagonist, used to live on the island, but moved to Tokyo as a child. Kōichi comes back from Tokyo to this very ordinary and small island off the coast from mainland Japan and lives with his grandfather. When he returns, a part of his childhood memory on the island is missing. Kōichi is not a normal human; he is a type of blood-sucking vampire, though he cannot attack people, due to a certain rule. He came to attend his current school because this secret was exposed in his old town on an island offshore Japan. Kōichi has a younger female cousin called . After her parents died, she was adopted into his family as his sister. After her brother transfers schools, she does as well so she can still go to the same school as him. Another living at the Yukino household is . Nonoka, otherwise known as Nono, works as a maid at Kōichi's house, though she often makes many mistakes. She has amnesia so has become a live-in maid until she can remember anything about her old life. Kōichi has a childhood friend named . She has a graceful personality, and is thought to be very beautiful. She belongs to the Volunteer Club which makes her popular around town. She is also skilled at Aikido. Clear features two other main female characters, one being . Haruno is an apprentice miko at a shrine, though this is only something that is part-time. She is haunted by a ghost, and became an apprentice miko so she could figure out how to get rid of it. Despite this, she usually has a cheerful personality. Lastly, there is . Due to Sayu's youthful personality and appearance, she is often mistaken for a child. She always carries around a small doll named Sayurin designed to look similar to her. ===== The old sea-captain retires, but the next day German World War II occupation of Norway begins. He then kisses his wife good-bye and is off to Regiment HQ. There he finds a lack of leadership and morale that offends him. They even laugh at him and his out-dated uniform and discontinued second lieutenant officer-rank, that he had earned years before. He is sent with a few men to blow up a bridge. The young men laugh at him and generally ignore his advice. When the bridge fails to collapse, he does the job himself. He returns to HQ to find that its officers have voted to surrender. He leaves the HQ with a few men, taking trucks and supplies to continue the fight, often at odds with the remainder of army leadership. He rebuilds a small fighting unit with volunteers and draftees and he achieves some battlefield success. Eventually his men abandon him, and he faces a German attack alone. ===== The elderly Martin believes he hears the voice of Anna, the love of his youth, who died during childbirth fifty years before. Guided by her voice, Martin escapes from his nursery home and begins a journey that echoes a chain of fatal events from his past, which increasingly merge with the present. ===== José, a middle age magician, is an elegant discreet homosexual who lives alone and has an occasional affair with Miguel, a young politician who finds it more convenient in Madrid's high society to marry than assert his homosexuality. José is a man romantically possessed and obsessed by his childhood in Granada during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in the spring of 1936. Now in his fifties, José returns to Granada and relives his childhood there. A time when he fell in love with García Lorca and had a youthful affair with one of Lorca's own lovers. Memories come flooding back to the mature José, of youthful sexual conquest, of Lorca's murder at the hands of Franco's agents, and his own early homosexual affairs. José's entire life is colored by his obsessions with García Lorca, his unknown God, to whom the film is dedicated. José travels twice to Granada. First, he revisits a woman who is also obsessed with García Lorca's memory, and steals a photograph of the boy with whom he had his first sexual encounter; later, José returns to Madrid, to a party in search of his youth, and meets a pianist with whom he had sexual relations many years before but now does not remember. When José returns to Madrid, he is a man tormented by his past, and in search of peace. Listening to a taped recording of García Lorca's famous "Ode to Walt Whitman", he desires nothing more than to face the rest of his life in loneliness, although his recent lover, Miguel has returned to his bed and wants to continue their affair. José realizes that he is really all alone in their world, alone with his God. ===== A love story during the Second World War in Scandinavia. Ann Mari, a Norwegian, works as a nurse in the Winter War of 1939/40 between Finland and the Soviet Union. She falls in love with the Finnish soldier Markus. The war stops temporarily, and they settle down in northern Norway. Norway gets occupied by Germany and Markus leaves Ann Mari, as Finland goes to war again to win back the lost territory. A short time later Markus seems to be dead and Ann Mari falls in love with the German soldier Maximilian. But Markus soon returns alive. After a struggle for Ann Mari the three take refuge from the Germans to Sweden, but Sweden deports foreign deserters. ===== Dr. Gray Thomison grew up the only son of a wealthy American family and chose to build a hospital in Chen-li, where he is the resident doctor in charge. Dr. Sara Durand is a 28-year-old American from rural Kansas in charge of the women's ward. She was brought to the hospital two years before the novel begins. Sara and Gray both speak Chinese and English. They are very committed to helping their patients, and they admire the Chinese people and their culture. Sara and Gray have worked closely together; Sara is in love with Gray but she has not told him. During an air raid. Sara and Siu-mei, a young Chinese intern, evacuate patients and babies from the women's hospital. Sara is in charge of the hospital while Gray is away fund-raising in America. Sara stays in the women's ward with the terminal patients and those who cannot be moved, while Dr. Chung, a young Chinese doctor just out of American medical school, tends patients in the men's ward. A cable from Gray tells Sara that he is bringing his new wife to Chen-li. Sara fixes up the bungalow near the hospital for the couple. Before they arrive, Chen-ta, the leader of the local guerrillas, brings Yasuda, an injured Japanese prisoner, to the hospital. He does not trust the Chinese to keep him alive. He asks Sara to operate on him and care for him. Dr. Chung assists and gives blood for Yasuda. There is an air raid the night that Gray's wife, Louise, arrives. Gray takes her to safety in the caves, then returns to the hospital to tend the male patients. She is angry and terrified. Dr Chung and Yasuda both speak to her in English. Louise is in love with Gray, but petulant and angry to be living amidst Chinese people and Japanese bombing. She does not speak Chinese and does not like the Chinese people. She wishes to return to America with Gray. Gray's cook-boy, Siao Fah, does not respect Louise and spies on her. Louise makes friends with some English-speaking men from nearby Treaty Port, including Harry Delafield, an English businessman. Dr. Chung believes the Japanese will win the war, so he makes friends with Yasuda. Yasuda promises to make Chung governor of the province after the Japanese victory.Buck, China Sky, Times Triangle edition, p. 152 Chung enlists his younger brother, Chung Third, to join Chen-ta's guerrillas to gather information for the Japanese. Chung convinces Louise to assist him in helping Yasuda send messages to the Japanese by writing letters in English to a man named Delafield. These messages stop the hospital from being bombed. Chung gives Yasuda a poison to make him appear sick and unable to be released back to Chen-ta. Siu-mei and Dr. Chung begin courting. He is attracted mainly by her wealthy family, but she falls in love. Chung brings letters to Louise for her to sign and mail. Siao Fah intercepts one letter, gives it to Sara, who gives it to Gray. Gray and Sara question whether Louise is being faithful to Gray, but nobody mentions the letter itself to Louise. Chen-ta's guerrillas begin losing battles. The citizens of Chen-li stop coming to the hospital because it is not suffering the same fate as the rest of the town. Sara and Gray are committed to helping the people and do not know what is going wrong. Siu-mei's father and five other elders from Chen-li visit Chen-ta in his hide- out. With the guerrillas losing, the elders are worried for the safety of Chen-li. Chen-ta begins to suspect Chung Third of spying, and he also lets Siu-mei's father know that he is interested in his daughter. One night, Sara discovers Dr. Chung and Yasuda discussing a map. Yasuda appears healthy. That same night, Ya-ching, a nurse in love with Chung, is spurned by him when she becomes pregnant by him. Ya-ching plans her revenge when she discovers that Chung is keeping the Japanese prisoner in the hospital by administering poison pills. She intercepts a message from Chung Third to Dr. Chung, but she does not tell anyone. She makes harmless substitute pills and gives them to Yasuda one night, then tells Siu-mei that Chung was poisoning Yasuda and using Chung Third to gather information about the guerrillas. Ya-ching witnesses Yasuda murder Dr. Chung, then drowns while returning to her own village. Nobody learns that Yasuda murdered Chung; Yasuda threw the body out a window to make it look like suicide. Louise discovers Chung's body. Gray and Siu-mei see a healthy Yasuda. Gray learns from Yasuda that Dr. Chung and Louise are passing information to the enemy.Buck, China Sky, Times Triangle edition, p. 262 Yasuda promises Gray Japanese support in exchange for safety. Siu-mei and her father travel to tell Chen-ta about Dr. Chung's treachery. Chen-ta has Chung Third killed, then he goes to the hospital to collect his prisoner. Gray sends Louise back to America and goes on working with Sara, whom he now knows he loves. The Japanese resume bombing the hospital. ===== Atalia (Michal Bat-Adam) is a 40-year-old widow who lost her husband in the Six-Day War and lives on a kibbutz with her adolescent daughter (Gail Ben-Ner). Lonely and feeling outcast, she enters into a forbidden affair with her daughter's classmate, Matti (Yiptach Katzur), an idealistic 19-year-old who had been rejected by the army. Atalia is independent-minded and non- conformist, so when her affair becomes known, the kibbutz leaders have the excuse they need to ostracize her. The slow degeneration of the once- idealistic kibbutz into a puritanical society, the strait-jacket of its conservative view of masculinity, and the conformity of her daughter all provide a backdrop to Atalia's problems. ===== Salley (Mae Marsh) and her little sister are sent to visit their three uncles in the west. Among other baggage, they bring their two puppies. Melissa (Lillian Gish) is in the same stagecoach with husband and newborn baby. The uncles find the little girls amusing but tell them that the dogs must stay outside. Meanwhile, a nearby tribe of evil looking Indians is having a tribal dance. The puppies left outside in a basket, run off. Sally, worried about the dogs goes outside and discovers they are gone. She follows their trail and runs into two hungry Indians who have captured them for food. There is a scuffle but her uncles arrive and intervene. Gunfire ensues and one of the Indians is left dead. The other Indian returns to the tribe to inform them and aroused by "savage hatred" they go into a war dance. Meanwhile, a tearful Sally has persuaded a friendly hand to build a secret door in the cabin so she can bring the puppies inside at night. The Indians attack the village and the frightened settlers run off toward the lonely cabin. In the melee, the baby is captured by the Indians. The Indians attack the cabin just after a scout rides off to alert the fort. The Indians ride in circles around the cabin, While the settlers try to fight them off. Melissa, in the cabin, is distraught worrying about the fate of her baby. Sally, more worried about her puppies, sneaks out her secret door and finds not only them but the baby in the arms of a dead Indian. In a hectic battle scene, she brings the baby back through the secret door. Just as the settlers are running out of ammunition, the cabin is burning, and the Indians, crawling on their stomachs, are almost in the cabin, the cavalry arrives. The Indians are quickly dispatched, all is well but for Melissa's grief over her missing baby. Sally pops out of a chest holding baby and puppies. All is well. The uncle agrees to let Sally keep the puppies inside. ===== Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) finish Dr. Preston Burke's (Isaiah Washington) surgery to remove a pseudo-aneurysm in the subclavian artery that threatened the functioning of his arm and which was caused by a gunshot wound. At the same time, Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith) successfully transplants a heart into Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The interns face Webber, who orders them to plan a prom for his dying niece, Camille Travis (Tessa Thompson), until the one who cut Duquette's left ventricular assist device (LVAD) comes forward. With the instructions of Camille's friends, Claire (Hallee Hirsh) and Natalie (Tiffany Hines), they prepare the prom as they each struggle with their own personal problems. Trying to recover from his injury, Burke finds a tremor in his right hand. Dr. Meredith Grey's (Ellen Pompeo) love interest Dr. Finn Dandrige (Chris O'Donnell), the vet of Doc—the dog she shares with Shepherd—informs her that Doc has had several seizures due to his bone cancer and that she and Shepherd have to make a decision. Webber interrogates the interns individually about Duquette's LVAD wire, but only learns about their personal problems instead. Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) finally accepts Duquette's marriage proposal. At Dandridge's office, Grey and Shepherd, joined by Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd (Kate Walsh), decide to put Doc to sleep. The hospital staff begins to arrive at the prom and Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Dr. George O'Malley (T. R. Knight) discuss the status of their relationship, which leads to the former admitting her love and commitment. During the dance, Grey and Shepherd escape Dandridge and Montgomery to have a heated argument that leads to sexual intercourse. In the meantime, as Duquette waits for Stevens alone in his room, he experiences a sudden sense of pain, and unexpectedly dies. While Webber is sitting in the operating room gallery and reflecting on his career, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) announces Duquette's death. News of the death spreads, and the interns hurry to his room to find a shocked Stevens, lying on the bed, clinging to his still form. As they each try to comfort her, the cause of his death is revealed to have been a blood-clot that led to a fatal stroke. Stevens says that if she had taken less time to dress, she would have arrived at his room sooner and could have been with him while he died. Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) then talks to Stevens, picking her up and hugging her as she cries. Afterward, Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), who did not know how to handle Burke's situation, goes to his room and puts her hand on his to show him her support. As the episode ends, Stevens confesses to Webber that she was the one responsible for the LVAD wire cut, and claiming she cannot be a surgeon, quits the program. After everyone begins going their separate ways, Grey remains torn on who she should follow: Shepherd or Dandridge. ===== The episode opens to a voice-over narrative from Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.). Addison gets to the ER with Joe (Steven W. Bailey) and Walter's (Jack J. Yang) surrogate from the bar, the previous episode. Burke starts treating her and decides that the twins must be born. Derek (Patrick Dempsey), Mark (Eric Dane) and Bailey (Chandra Wilson) start treating the newly-found fourth climber. The other climbers eventually talk to the police. Cristina (Sandra Oh) attempts to write her vows. Callie (Sara Ramirez) writes them on Cristina's hand. At work, Cristina discovers that the wedding has given her the day off. Jeff Pope (Jason London) arrives and hugs Rebecca (Elizabeth Reaser). Alex (Justin Chambers) asks Jeff why he didn't search for his wife before. Rebecca wants Alex, but he tells her to stay with her 'decent guy'. Derek tells Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) that he met a girl in the bar. Meredith seems confused. Meanwhile, Adele (Loretta Devine) has a miscarriage, revealing that Richard was the father. Mama Burke (Diahann Carroll) forces Cristina to remove her eyebrows; she panics and convinces Bailey to let her scrub in. Bailey agrees, having found out that Callie is the new chief resident. Derek removes the axe from the fourth climber while Burke treats the new babies. Callie and George (T. R. Knight) agree to have children, but Izzie (Katherine Heigl) tells George she's in love with him. The interns receive their test results. George hides the fact that he didn't pass. Derek feels Meredith is taking him for granted. She evades responding and goes to the chapel. Mark, Addison and Burke are rejected as Chief of Surgery candidates. At the chapel, Burke finds out Derek is not the new Chief, though Derek doesn't explain. Addison tells Alex to fight for Rebecca. Outside SGH, Bailey and George talk. She thinks that she failed him, but he says: "I failed you". Alex decides to go after Rebecca. Callie tells Izzie she and George is planning to have a baby; Izzie is stunned. Cristina realizes that she washed her vows off when she scrubbed in, and freaks out. Meredith convinces her to go on. Burke sees the delay and calls off the wedding, feeling he has forced her to change. He walks away. Meredith tells everybody that it is over. She looks at Derek and leaves the chapel. Cristina arrives at Burke's apartment to discover that he has gone. Cristina starts shaking uncontrollably and crying. To calm her down, Meredith hugs her and cuts her out of her wedding dress. George runs into the new interns, and meets Lexie Grey, Meredith's paternal half-sister. Richard tells Derek he is the new Chief, but Derek suggests that he start over. We see Richard looking over the hospital. ===== Chaahat – Ek Nasha tells of Mallika Arora (Manisha Koirala), a pop star, who falls in love with Rahul Kapoor (Aryan Vaid), the owner of RK Music World. He thinks of her as his best friend only. Though she is physically attracted to Rahul, she does not want to tie the knot. Rahul and Mallika have had physical relations. However, when he proposes to her, she politely turns him down, saying that she does not believe in wedlock. She is strongly of the view that the instant a couple gets married, love and attraction slip away. The story takes a new turn with the downfall of Mallika as all of her albums are flopping and she is becoming a fading star. Rahul launches a newcomer, Rashmi Jaitly (Preeti Jhangiani) in his new music video. Rashmi's debut music video is a big hit and she becomes a star overnight. Rahul falls in love with her and Rashmi reciprocates his feelings. Rahul decides to marry her. When this reality of Rahul's falling in love with Rashmi dawns upon Mallika, she is shattered. She gets drunk and orders her personal bodyguard Jaidev (Sharad Kapoor) to kill Rahul. However, the next morning, when her alcoholic intoxication vanishes, Mallika realizes her mistake and calls up Jaidev in order to stop him from killing Rahul. But Jaidev, who is in one-sided love with Mallika, is all set to eliminate Rahul. A dangerous game has begun, in which Mallika wants to save her love at any cost. ===== In 1933, during the Great Depression, 11-year- old orphan Annie Bennett was left on her own at an all girls orphanage when she was an infant. The only two things that she received from her family was half a heart-shaped locket with a key hole, and a note from her parents saying that they would come back for her. The orphanage is run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan, who starves the orphans, forces them to do slave labor, and even makes them suffer. In the middle of the night, after getting tired of waiting for her parents, Annie tries to escape to find them, but is caught by Miss Hannigan in the process. When Miss Hannigan gets distracted, Annie hides in the dirty laundry bin and she finally succeeds in running away. While out on her own, Annie befriends a dog, whom she names Sandy. But a policeman catches her and returns her back to the orphanage. When billionaire Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks decides to take in an orphan for Christmas, his secretary Grace Farrell chooses Annie. Annie and Sandy are brought to his wealthy estate and bathe in a grand life. Although at first uncomfortable with Annie, Daddy Warbucks is soon charmed by her. He desperately wants to adopt Annie, but Annie still wants to find her real parents, so he announces on the radio a $50,000 reward for anybody who can prove they are her biological parents. The orphans accidentally tell Miss Hannigan, and her younger con artist brother Rooster, and his dimwitted girlfriend Lily St. Regis cook up a scheme to get the reward by posing as Ralph and Shirley Mudge (Annie's "so called" parents). Lily is left with the orphans after Miss Hannigan and Rooster leave, but Lily accidentally tells the secret. The orphans make her tell them what is going on, and she realizes that Rooster could leave her hanging as he has done before in the past. She and the orphans come to Warbucks' mansion where Lily demands her part in the cut while the orphans reveal the scheme. While fleeing from the orphans, Miss Hannigan and Rooster are intercepted upon the arrival of President Franklin D. Roosevelt along with his Secret Service. The President reads the papers that identifies Miss Hannigan, Rooster, and Lily. This enrages Miss Hannigan, who soon curses Annie for ruining her minions' chance to bring her back to her so she can punish her for escaping, only to be carted off to a psychiatric hospital for child abuse, followed by Rooster and Lily who are arrested and taken to jail. President Roosevelt then presents the evidence to Annie that her real parents are actually David and Margaret Bennett, but sadly they both had died several years earlier which explains why they never returned for her. Although Annie is saddened that her real parents are dead, she is cheered up when Daddy Warbucks officially adopts her. The President ensures a happy ending for all as he promises that each of the orphans will be adopted by a stable and happy family. Daddy Warbucks and Grace become engaged, and Annie lives happily with her new parents and Sandy. ===== Asfaltevangeliet shows the scenario of Jesus Christ coming to Oslo, Norway in present day. Jesus preached a radical message of love, forgiveness and the Kingdom of God. He is disputed by the authorities and the religious elite, but gets a following among sinners, prostitutes and drug addicts. Jesus also says that he has to die for the sins of mankind, and in the film's climax he is killed by a mob in Oslo's main street. ===== Seventh-grade Rikke is one of the most popular girls in her class, but one day arrives a new girl, Bea, who begins to take her place in the classroom. As the newcomer makes herself at home, an unhealthy competition develops between the two. A relationship that the two have to settle before they can be friends, and explore the future joys and sorrows of youth together. ===== Ian Stone is an average man. He loves ice hockey but lives for his girlfriend, Jenny Walker. Late one night while driving home from a painful loss on the ice, Ian thinks he sees a dead body near the railroad tracks. Investigating the grisly discovery, Ian is attacked by the "corpse", forced onto the tracks and run over by a train. He wakes up in an office cubicle. He is older and living with a beautiful woman named Medea. Jenny is not his girlfriend, just a co-worker, and one of a number of apparently familiar faces. Ian meets a strange old man who tells him he is in danger. The old man tells him that he is being hunted by the Harvesters, a group of mind-controlling characters who cannot be killed and feed off human fear. He explains that every day, at different times and different places, the clocks stop and they come after him to kill him. The only problem is that Ian won't stay dead. He wakes in a new life, a new place, only for the cycle to repeat itself. Suddenly one of the Harvesters attacks the old man and Ian runs. They chase Ian back to his apartment where Medea, who is clearly one of them, is waiting. Once again, Ian is killed. He wakes to find he is a junkie in a rundown apartment, with Jenny living a few doors down. He implores her to remember him, desperately reaching out and searching for someone to help him make sense of what's going on. When the Harvesters come again Jenny and Ian have no choice but to run. As they seek refuge on a subway train heading out of town, Jenny confesses to her memories of Ian's former lives. Later on, the old man meets Ian in the train again while Jenny sleeps. It is then that the old man reveals that he is one of the Harvesters, and hints at Ian's involvement with them. When they disembark they are again confronted by a group of Harvesters, each a mass of pulsating veins, pitch-black muscles and flesh. Some of the barely human faces are recognizable from Ian's previous lives, including Medea who reveals a shocking truth: Ian was one of these monsters until he rebelled against the colony and managed to kill one other Harvester, and Medea used to be his "mate". Medea tries to force Ian to feed again and return to the "fold", but Ian resists. Medea and the Harvesters attack once more, and she explains that his rebellion came after his first encounter with Jenny. So moved was he by the girl that he wished to live a mortal life with her. Before Medea can harm Jenny, however, a final change comes over Ian with the help of Gray, the old Harvester who had helped him before. Apparently Ian found a sustenance that was far superior to fear or pain, and so did the old man: love. Making this connection to a human being changes the specific nature of a Harvester, which allowed the old man (and now Ian) to kill the members of their kind. Gray had urged Ian to protect Jenny out of experience; having lost his love to the Harvesters, he could only feed on fear again and he spent what remained of his life slowly starving himself and trying to find love again. Gray implores Ian to feed from him and tap into those emotions of affection and kinship; Gray dies while restoring Ian. Ian regains his true power: his Harvester-self is finally born out of his human flesh, uniquely exuding goodness rather than malevolence. He now has the capacity to turn the tables on these creatures and to feed on their fear and to give life. He then rescues Jenny, who is being stalked by the clan. Ian creates a new life for himself and Jenny, in which he is a successful professional hockey player with her at his side. Jenny has no recollection of their harrowing adventure; but Ian, having realized his abilities, will begin to take the fight to the Harvesters. ===== Shy, socially inept teenager Nick Twisp lives with his mother, Estelle, and her boyfriend, Jerry, in Oakland, California. After selling a faulty car to a group of sailors, Jerry takes Estelle and Nick to a trailer park in Clearlake where Nick meets Sheeni Saunders, a bright young woman his age, with an interest in French culture and who shares Nick's musical taste. Despite Sheeni's boyfriend, Trent Preston, they become romantically involved. Nick purchases a dog for Sheeni named Albert (after Albert Camus), but the dog rips up the family's property and Sheeni's parents ban it from the house. Jerry needs to return to Oakland and takes Estelle and Nick with him. Sheeni promises to arrange a job in Ukiah for Nick's father, George, while Nick will get his mother to kick him out so he can return to Sheeni. Back at home, Nick creates an alter-ego named François Dillinger, a suave, rebellious troublemaker. Immediately after Nick makes the decision, Jerry dies of a heart attack. Under François' influence, Nick mouths off to his mom and her new boyfriend, police officer Lance Wescock. Nick takes Jerry's Lincoln, and crashes into a restaurant, which starts a fire. Lance agrees to lie and report the car stolen. In return, Nick must live with his father. In Ukiah, Nick phones Sheeni Weenie and tells her he had to blow up "half of Berkeley" to return. Sheeni's parents overhear this and ship her to a French boarding school in Santa Cruz, forbidding Nick ever to see her again. In his new high school, Nick befriends Vijay Joshi, and they take Vijay's grandmother's car to visit Sheeni. After sneaking into Sheeni's room, Nick goes to the restroom and meets Bernice Lynch, Sheeni's neighbor, and claims Trent said terrible things about her. Bernice brings the matron to Sheeni's room and the boys flee. On the way home, the car dies and Nick calls Mr. Ferguson, his father's idealist neighbor, to come pick them up; he tells Ferguson that Vijay is an illegal immigrant whom Nick is trying to "free from persecution". When he returns home, Nick meets Sheeni's older brother, Paul, who tells him that she will be returning home on Thanksgiving and invites him for dinner. Nick begins to send Bernice letters asking her to slip sedatives into Sheeni's drinks to make her fall asleep in class, thereby getting Sheeni expelled. Nick finds Lacey, George's 25-year-old girlfriend, Paul, and Ferguson, lounging in his living room, high on mushrooms, which Nick also ingests. George finds them and punches Ferguson, which results in Paul punching George. Lacey leaves the house to live with Paul. On Thanksgiving Day, Nick receives a call from his mother explaining Lance left and will not cover for Nick anymore. Nick goes to Thanksgiving at Sheeni's. Trent unexpectedly arrives and explains Nick's letters to Bernice; Sheeni is horrified and Nick leaves. Nick steals his father's car to escape the police. He then removes his clothes and drives the car into a shallow lake in front of the police station. He buys a wig and a dress and impersonates one of Sheeni's "friends". He fools Mr. and Mrs. Saunders and goes up to Sheeni's room. Upstairs, Nick tells Sheeni that he understands what loneliness is like, and that everything he has done, including burning down Berkeley, destroying his parents' cars and having her sedated were all so that they wouldn't have to be alone anymore. Sheeni forgives Nick, and the two have sex, finally achieving Nick's dream of losing his virginity. Trent barges in, telling Nick he's brought the police with him. Nick beats up Trent and asks Sheeni to wait for him; Sheeni reassures him that he will only be in juvenile detention for three months. The animated closing credits show Nick in jail with François helping him. When Nick is released, Sheeni shows up in a car and they drive away into the sky towards the Paris skyline, as various characters appear to make amends with the two and give them their blessing. ===== One year after the events of the original game, the world continues to embrace and explore the cube worlds that resulted from the opening of the planet's core. One day King Jibral and Zola encounter a mysterious evil three-headed dragon shadow called Balaur emerging from one of the cubes. Zola has a bad feeling about it and after informing Shu and the party, they find themselves on another adventure to discover this new threat. ===== During the 1920s, itinerant American beachcomber Mr. Morgan (Gary Cooper) is deposited on the island of Matareva in the South Pacific. When he decides to stay he is confronted by Pastor Cobbett (Barry Jones), who lost both his father and his wife as a young missionary on the island. Cobbett rules Matareva as a Puritanical despot, using local bullies as "wardens" to enforce his rules. "Morgan Tane" stays on Matareva by winning the support of the natives after he defeats the wardens with the aid of an empty shotgun. Morgan has an illegitimate child, Turia (Moira Walker), by island girl Maeva (Roberta Haynes). After Maeva's death in childbirth, the distraught Morgan departs the island, leaving Turia behind with her grandmother. Morgan returns to Matareva during World War II, where he reconciles with Cobbett, who has become a friend and teacher to the islanders, and meets Turia. She falls in love with an American Air Force pilot, Harry Faber, after he crash-lands his cargo plane in the lagoon. An interesting irony is that when Morgan first arrived, Cobbett tried to force him to leave the island lest he get an island girl pregnant. Now he faces the same thing when Faber tries to seduce his daughter, Turia, as a diversion while awaiting pickup by the Navy. Morgan intervenes and makes Faber leave and his crew leave, using the same empty shotgun as an inducement. When Turia forgives him, Morgan decides to remain with her on Matareva. ===== In October 1941, war correspondents and brothers "Jonny" (Clark Gable) and Kirk Davis (Robert Sterling) return to the still-neutral United States after being kicked out of Germany. Jonny's boss, isolationist New York Daily Chronicle publisher George L. Stafford (Charles Dingle), refuses to print his story about Japan and Germany's plans for the world, but Jonny tricks him into doing so, and gets fired for his trouble. When Jonny goes to reclaim his old room from friends and landlords "Evie" (Lee Patrick) and Willie Manning (Reginald Owen), he is annoyed (despite having been away for years) to find they have rented it out to Paula Lane (Lana Turner), an aspiring reporter who wants to work as a foreign correspondent. Ladies man Jonny is very interested in the beautiful blonde, but then finds that his brother already has a relationship with her. A romantic triangle ensues. Despite being in love with her himself, Jonny tries to arrange it so that Paula chooses Kirk. Eventually, they are all reunited in Manila ... on Sunday, December 7, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which brings America into the war. Jonny insists that the other two leave on a ship for Australia, while he remains behind to report for the Chronicle, but they sneak back on the pilot boat after he sees them off. Kirk enlists, while Paula joins the Red Cross. When the Japanese invade the Philippines, Jonny encounters his brother by chance; Kirk is part of a detachment under the command of Lieutenant Wade Hall (Van Johnson) that is assigned to repel a Japanese amphibious landing. Kirk and most of the other defenders die in the fierce fighting. Jonny believes that Paula was also killed, when the hospital where she was working was wiped out, but it turns out she was out escorting a party of wounded there. When they find each other, Jonny sets her at a typewriter and starts dictating the rest of his newspaper story. ===== In September 1950, Elizabeth MacLeod is living in her childhood farm home in Raleigh, Vermont, with her 17-year-old son Rennie. The mailman arrives three mornings each week, and each time Elizabeth hopes for a letter from her husband Gerald in China, where she lived with him until Rennie was twelve. They lived in Peking until the war with Japan, then escaped to Chungking. She and her husband are very much in love, but Gerald, a Eurasian, sent her and Rennie to America because the communist uprising in China made it dangerous for white people. He was half Chinese and chose to stay in his own country. Gerald rarely writes because communication with westerners is banned by the communists. Letters must be smuggled out. Today her husband writes, "Whatever I do now, remember that it is you I love."Buck, Letter from Peking, p.12 The letter continues. She locks the letter in her desk. This is the first letter from Gerald in three months. It is mailed from Hong Kong. It is the last letter from him. Elizabeth takes care of her son and the farm. Her parents are long dead. Matt Greene helps take care of the farm. Elizabeth is aware of an American prejudice against the Chinese, and her son is one-quarter Chinese. She misses her husband very much. Over the winter she remembers their days together and the Chinese man that she loves. In the spring, after the sugaring is done, Elizabeth and Rennie go to Little Spring, Kansas, to bring Rennie's grandfather MacLeod, Baba, to live with them in Vermont. He left Peking when the Japanese invaded China. He lives in a herder's shack on Sam Blaine's farm.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.67 He wears Chinese gowns rather than western suits, reads a few old Chinese books, and he has become forgetful. Rennie is embarrassed by how Chinese his grandfather is. Baba dons western clothes for the train ride to Vermont. The local doctor, Bruce Spauldin, believes he has had strokes. Elizabeth remembers he was witty and bright when she and Gerald lived with him in Peking. "He is sweet and gentle and easy to live with, and he does not complain."Buck, Letter from Peking, p.75 Elizabeth asks Baba about Gerald's mother, Ai-lan. Elizabeth never knew her. They were married when Baba was advisor to the Emperor. Baba liked his wife Ai-lan, the sister of his friend Han Yu-Ren - but he did not love her. After Gerald was born, Ai-lan became interested in Sun Yat-sen's ideas for revolution. Baba supported the Emperor. Ai-lan believed the races could never mingle.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.83 She moved south, became a violent revolutionist, and was killed in 1930 by the secret police of the Nationalist government.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.91 Gerald saw her infrequently but longed for her. His father would not let Ai-lan "contaminate" Gerald. The next day, the postman brought a magazine mailed from a post office box in Peking. There was a picture of Gerald's mother on the cover. The magazine was dedicated to a martyr of the revolution. In this way Elizabeth learns that Gerald knew all about his mother, though he never spoke of her. That summer Rennie falls in love. He and Elizabeth talk about Rennie's Chinese relatives. Rennie wants to be all American and forget his Chinese relatives, including his father. He's worried that being part Chinese will keep a girl from liking him.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.104 Elizabeth meets Allegra, Rennie's girlfriend, and does not think her a good match for her son. Allegra's parents leave with her when Elizabeth tells them Rennie is quarter- Chinese. Her husband and Rennie were registered with the American embassy when they were born,Buck, Letter from Peking, p.133 so they are legally Americans. But she knows they must know and they would not approve Gerald and Rennie's Chinese ancestry. Rennie is hurt and angry. She wants her son to find a love as deep as she shares with his father. Rennie leaves home to find Allegra and talk to her. Baba becomes weaker and more childish that summer.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.127 He has strokes. Bruce Spauldin comes to check him. Elizabeth notices that the unmarried Bruce "is even-tempered, inclined to silence and meditation, all good qualities in a husband."Buck, Letter from Peking, p.144 Elizabeth realizes that she is alone and lonely, closed off from Peking, though her husband is not dead. She begins to pray. Baba has more strokes and loses all care. Rennie returns and asks, "Mother, why did you let me be born?",Buck, Letter from Peking, p.155 angered by his Chinese heritage. He goes to Sam Blaine's ranch for the rest of the summer. Before he goes, Elizabeth tells him about Gerald's mother, his grandmother, Ai-lan. Gerald's last letter to Elizabeth included a request that Elizabeth ignored.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.163 Now Elizabeth receives a letter from Mei-lan, sent through a silk shop in Singapore. Mei-lan requested that Gerald write the previous letter to Elizabeth. Mei-lan wishes to care for her husband in Elizabeth's absence and requests the support of her "older sister." At this point in the story, Gerald's full last-letter to Elizabeth is printed in the book. He requested her support for his decision to stay in China and protect his wife and child by sending them to America. She sends a letter expressing her love for him and her full support of Mei-lan and their husband, Gerald. Baba becomes weaker, but he remembers that he did not marry Gerald's mother to get a son; he did not want a son. Elizabeth understands how loveless Gerald's childhood was. Elizabeth pulls out Gerald's letters and reads them again. At first he believes in the new government, then his letters become listless.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.177 Elizabeth realizes that Gerald is a prisoner. Baba has another stroke. Bruce treats him, then proposes to Elizabeth. She says she is married. Bruce waits. Mei-lan writes that Gerald is sad and she wants to be friends with Elizabeth. The letter was mailed in Hong Kong, for safety. Elizabeth appreciates the letter from her "younger sister" but knows that her neighbors would not understand her love for Gerald living with Mei-lan in China. Rennie writes that he is studying physics at a mid- western college and paying his way. His roommate, George Bowen, has a very intelligent and good-looking sister. Rennie promises to come home for Christmas. Mei-lan sends letters to Ellizabeth through friends in Manila and Bangkok.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.194 She tells her how Gerald is doing. Sam Blaine comes with Rennie at Christmas. Baba does not remember Sam or Rennie very well, but the Christmas gathering is happy. Rennie has grown to become a man. Elizabeth asks about George Bowen's sister.Buck, Letter from Peking, p.211 They argue about Gerald's choice to stay in China and Baba's choice to marry a Chinese woman. Elizabeth explains that love is what matters. Sam Blaine proposes to Elizabeth. Baba dies soon after. Elizabeth sees a vision of Gerald dying, then learns from Mei-lan that Gerald died and Mei-lan has a son. Rennie marries George Bowen's twin sister Mary, with Elizabeth's blessing. George and Mary are orphans and love Rennie. Bruce and Elizabeth consider marrying. Elizabeth considers Baba's loveless life a poor example for living, something she will not endorse. ===== In 1560, Erzsébet Báthory is born into the Hungarian noble Báthory family, the daughter of general George Báthory of Ecsed. From an early age, Erzsébet's parents raise her to accept hardness and cruelty. As a teenager, Erzsébet is impregnated by a young peasant lover and is forced to watch as he is brutally tortured and executed before her eyes; Erzsébet's mother takes the child away from her directly after its birth, ensuring that she never sees him again. Erzsébet is later married to Count Ferenc Nádasdy, with whom she has three children. After Nádasdy's return from the Ottoman-Hungarian Wars, he succumbs to a disease he contracted abroad and dies. Erzsébet, now the sole heir of her husband's vast estate, seeks recognition from the Hungarian Habsburg King Matthias II. Matthias consents reluctantly due to his considerable debt to the Countess. At a ball, she meets Count György Thurzó's 21-year-old son, István, and falls in love with him. After a night together, István is forced by his father to end the relationship and marry the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Denmark. Erzsébet, 39, believes that their age difference is to blame for the failure of the relationship. After an incident in which she is splashed with blood after striking a female servant, Erzsébet starts to believe that bathing in the blood of virgin girls can help her to reach eternal youth and beauty, a belief reinforced by her sycophantic servants who insist her skin is suddenly much smoother. To this end, her staff capture and brutally kill peasant girls to obtain their blood. It is only when Erzsébet starts to kidnap aristocratic girls that the authorities begin an investigation. Count Thurzó is asked to investigate the incidents and he thus sends István, now a count himself, to visit Erzsébet. István reluctantly goes to visit her, and they spend a passionate night together. István, despite his affections for the countess, still suspects the countess and when he and one of his companions discover evidence of her crime, they arrest her. During the trial, Erzsébet is found guilty and, due to her noble origin, she is sentenced to spend the rest of her life walled into her room in Čachtice Castle in total isolation. Erzsébet's staff are also found guilty, but unlike her they are put to death. All of her estate is awarded to the Count Thurzó with the exception of Čachtice, which is given to her children. Driven by desperation after being walled in, Erzsébet Báthory commits suicide. She is then buried without a coffin in a humble grave, with no funeral ceremony. The film casts doubt on the sentence, suggesting that much of the happenings have been manipulated by Count Thurzó. ===== ===== The story begins with a Bharathanatiyam dancer, Varshini, being invited to the national capital of India on the eve of India being declared a republic. The temple priest who has nurtured since her birth takes her to the Brihadeeshvara Temple to meet a temple dancer named Kama. The story then flashes back to the 1920s. The temple dancer is about to retire from her service as a dancer and has chosen her daughter Madhura as her descendant. The vassal of the Tanjavore Presidency is attracted to Madhura. In addition to being a temple dancer, Madhura has to satisfy the vassal's desires. Madhura is more interested in developing her art of dancing. Meanwhile, Shiva, a lower caste temple servant has awe for Madhura's art. He threatens the vassal for an attempt to murder by a rebellious group called "Vande Mataram". But things don't go so and Shiva is accused of lying. He is sent into an exile but eventually mixes with the same group "Vande Mataram". In order to broaden his prospects, the vassal asks Madhura to seduce the collector of Tanjavore through her art. Madhura rejects thus decision and disappears. Now, Kama, Madhura's sister, is chosen as the temple dancer. Learning the barbaric thoughts of the vassal, Kama chooses to elope like Madhura. She finds that Madhura is a part of the rebellious "Vande Mataram" group. Things become more complicated as the sacred thread from temple goes missing. Madhura is accused of stealing and the vassal orders her arrest. Shiva confesses to the policemen that he is the real accused but secretly tells Madhura where had he kept the sacred thread. Shiva is hanged to death for the charges of robbery. Madhura is pregnant and dies while giving birth to her child. The child is none other than Varshini herself. She is a look alike of Madhura. The story then comes to the present where it is revealed that the vassal has invited Varshini to the national capital. Kama tells Varshini that her mother's last wish was to be cremated with the holy temple fire. The film ends with Varshini, wearing the sacred thread, cremating her mother with the holy temple fire and dancing to pay homage to her mother's artiste. ===== The Radio Pirates is the story of Karl Jonathan and his father. They leave the city for the father's dilapidated childhood home but soon realise that the entire village of "Skjelleruten" has been transformed into the ultimate safe society, where children are strictly protected from behaving like children. Karl Jonathan and his new friend, Sisseline, start an uprising against this model village with the aid of a closed-down pirate radio. But the model citizens refuse to give in without a fight! ===== The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven (modeled on Whitby, England) against the background of the practice of impressment during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives happily with her parents on a farm, and is passionately loved by her rather dull Quaker cousin Philip. She, however, meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a dashing sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become secretly engaged. When Kinraid goes back to his ship, he is forcibly enlisted in the Royal Navy by a press gang, a scene witnessed by Philip. Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin. This act is primarily prompted out of gratefulness for Philip's assistance during a difficult time following her father's imprisonment and subsequent execution for leading a revengeful raid on press-gang collaborators. They have a daughter. Inevitably, Kinraid returns to claim Sylvia and she discovers that Philip knew all the time that he was still alive. Philip leaves her in despair at her subsequent rage and rejection, but she refuses to live with Kinraid because of her child. Philip joins the army under a pseudonym, and ends up fighting in the Napoleonic wars, where he saves Kinraid's life. Kinraid returns to Britain, and marries. His wife, who knows nothing of their history together, informs Sylvia that her husband is a great military leader. Kinraid's marriage suggests to Sylvia that he was not as faithful to her as she had remained to him, and she then realizes she is actually in love with Philip. Philip, meanwhile horribly disfigured by a shipboard explosion, returns to the small Northumbrian village to try to secretly get a glimpse of his child. He ends up staying with the sister of a servant of Sylvia's deceased parents, and rescues his child when she nearly drowns. He is fatally injured while saving his daughter, but his identity then becomes known and he is reconciled with his wife on his deathbed. ===== Josie (Pat Shortt) is a good- natured man with learning difficulties who lives and works at a garage in a small rural Irish village. The owner, Mr Gallagher, is a former schoolmate who is not interested in the garage and is only waiting for the right offer from developers so he can sell. For Josie, one day rolls into another with nothing but his menial job and a few pints in the local pub, even though the regulars mock him and his ways. Kind-hearted Josie's only other companion is a large horse that is tethered alone in a field. He talks to the animal and brings it food. One day his boss hires his girlfriend's 15-year-old son, David (Conor Ryan) to help Josie. Slowly Josie connects with David as they endure the slow and menial pace of the garage. One night after work, Josie innocently shares some beers with David. They sit and watch the sunset at the rear of the garage. Josie joins David and other local teenagers down by the railway tracks and brings beer for all of them. The new social aspects to his life lifts his confidence. At the local pub, he gets the courage to dance with Carmel, the local shopkeeper. But she shows her cynicism for Josie by explicitly telling him she feels no physical attraction towards him. The friendship between Josie and David progresses nicely until one fateful day after work. Josie shows David a pornographic film which Josie received from a trucker who frequents the petrol station. David feels uncomfortable and leaves. Josie, sensing something is wrong, follows him outside but is unable to clarify the situation. David returns the following week but does not stay after work. Instead, he leaves with Declan, a local boy who openly mocks and despises Josie because he is different. Nevertheless, Josie offers Declan a beer and cheerful goodbye. The next day, the local Garda come to the garage and take Josie to the police station because there has been "a complaint". It transpires that David told Declan about the previous weekend's incident and word reached David's mother that Josie had supplied her son with alcohol and shown him pornography. After an interview with a sympathetic officer, Josie explains it was just a bit of "craic" and "pure innocent". No charges are brought and he is released. But he is told to stay away from the town and especially to avoid contact with David. Josie returns to the garage. While eating dinner, he suddenly realises what has happened. Shocked, he puts his head in hands all alone in his little room at the back of the garage. The next day Mr Gallagher comes to the garage. Although not explicitly stated, Josie is told that he or the garage are finished. Unable to sleep that night, Josie gets dressed and sits on the edge of his bed. He then goes down to the river at dawn and sits for a while on the bank. Josie then takes off his well- polished shoes and socks before neatly placing his garage cap on them. He then wades slowly into the water arms outstretched. In the final scene, the lonely horse which was tethered in a field, has been cut free. It stops and looks directly into the camera as the screen fades to black. ===== A shipwreck near the Solomon Islands leaves San Franciscan Harmon Darrell (Terry) and his daughter Nancy (Butler) adrift in a lifeboat. Cyril McVeagh (Carey) a ship's captain reduced to drunkenness and brutality by his shattered love affair with Nancy, rules one of the islands, accompanied only by his deranged mate "Pearly" Gates (Russell) and the island's natives. McVeagh is about to marry Liana (Foster), a native who loves him but is desired by Pearly, when Nancy arrives on the island, horrified at McVeagh's dissipation. Tanarka, Liana's former betrothed, leads a native rebellion against McVeagh, who sends Nancy away in a boat before the attack. McVeagh struggles with his crazed mate in his burning shack before Pearly recovers his reason and the two hurriedly leave the island. Liana, believing McVeagh dead, remains behind to mourn him, while McVeagh sets a course for San Francisco and civilization. ===== When freshman Trixie Stone accuses her ex-boyfriend, Jason Underhill, of raping her at a party, students and townspeople, alike, are quick to take Jason's side when he claims that their intercourse was consensual. Trixie's parents, Daniel, a mild-mannered comic book artist from a rough upbringing, and Laura, a college professor having an affair with one of her students, become involved, and Jason, whose life is supposedly ruined by Trixie's accusation, leaps from a bridge, dying by suicide. Although Jason's death was first presumed to be suicide, Trixie is quickly turned to as a suspect, accused of pushing Jason off the bridge. Trixie then flees to the Yup'ik region of Alaska where her father grew up. Daniel and Laura eventually find Trixie in Alaska. At the end of the novel, Laura confesses to Daniel that she was present when Jason died. Jason, who was intoxicated, lunged at Laura believing she was Trixie. Laura pushed Jason off the bridge but he held onto her. Laura reached to his hand, but then let go, thus revealing that Trixie is innocent, but Laura is not. The novel concludes with the final chapter with Daniel's latest comic, showing a father reunited with his daughter, after saving her from the depths of hell. The main plot and subplots are juxtaposed throughout the book with Daniel's latest comic, entitled The Tenth Circle, which parallels with Daniel's life and the novel itself. In the comic, inserted into the book, there's a hidden message. The message, “Nothing is easier than self-deceit, for what each man wishes that he also believes to be true” – DEMOSTHENES ===== Set in the 1980s, a trio of murders is linked to a single suspect. All three victims have palindromic first names and are found shot through the head in community gardens. The media dubs the crimes the "palindrome murders". TC Cook was the lead investigator at the time, and two young officers, Gus Ramone and Doc Holiday, were with him at the third crime scene. 20 years later Cook is retired, and Holiday has left the police force. Ramone is a veteran homicide detective and becomes involved in a case which has all the hallmarks of a palindrome murder. Also realizing the similarities, the others are again drawn into the investigation. ===== The novel opens in 1985 at the scene of the discovery of a third victim of the "Night Gardener" so called by the homicide investigators, and establishes Cook as the lead investigator with Ramone and Holiday as rookies. All three victims of the killer were found in community gardens, shot in the head after being similarly assaulted. Twenty years later Holiday has left the force and Ramone has become a homicide detective. Ramone is working with his squad on the murder of Jacqueline Taylor. They manage to arrest and extract a confession from her boyfriend Tyree Williams which is backed by physical evidence. At home Ramone enjoys a happy family life and tries to mentor his son through the prejudices of his new school. Holiday now works as a chauffeur, drinks in a bar and is unmotivated. One night after cruising, drinking and getting lost, Holiday falls asleep in his car near a community garden. He witnesses some events before sleeping again and awakes to find the body of Asa Johnson with a gunshot wound to the temple. Holiday makes an anonymous call to the police. Bill "Garloo" Wilkins is the primary investigator on the Johnson case. Ramone becomes involved because of the boy's friendship with his son. He begins to notice similarities to the palindrome murders but says nothing. The Johnson family pressures Ramone to find a suspect. Evidence and the autopsy show a link with the palindrome murders. Wilkins uncovers evidence that Johnson was homosexual on his home computer. Ramone recognises Holiday's voice on the tape of the anonymous call and tracks him down. Holiday also realises the similarity to the palindrome murders and contacts Cook. Now retired and afflicted by a small stroke, Cook continues to trail the early suspect Reginald Wilson. Wilson went to prison shortly after the last murder in the 80s and Cook still believes Wilson is the "Night Gardener". He is invigorated by the possibility of another chance to prove his theory and eagerly joins Holiday in an unofficial investigation. Ramone arranges to meet with Cook and Holiday. Holiday is truthful about everything he saw on the night of Johnson's death and Cook tells Ramone about his suspicions over Wilson but it turns out that Wilson has an alibi for the night in question. The night after the Johnson killing Ramone's partner, Rhonda Willis becomes the primary investigator on a new case, the murder of Jamal White. They find that the same gun was used in the deaths of White and Johnson. Through a tangled chain of connections detectives trace and arrest Aldan "Beano" Tinsley who, under pressure, confesses to finding the gun when walking through the gardens - after Asa Johnson shot himself. Remembering the number of the patrol car from his night near the gardens, Holiday manages to identify the officer driving as Grady Dunne without Ramone's help. Ramone meets Holiday and tells him that Johnson's death was not related to the palindrome murders. Ramone convinces Holiday to identify Tinsley as the man he saw in the gardens on the night of Johnson's death in order to strengthen the White case because he abused Tinsley's rights in order to get the information he needed. Holiday is surprised to find that Ramone is not as straight as he believed. Ramone returns to the gardens and finds Asa Johnson's journal hidden near where his body was found. He reads the diary in full and finds that Johnson had a relationship with a man who used the pseudonym "RoboMan". Ramone believes this was Johnson's math teacher Robert Bolton. Ramone resolves to trace the origins of the gun Johnson used, finding it belonged to Terrance Johnson which he remains quiet about. Instead he passes the information about the teacher on to the Morals Unit. Holiday keeps the information about Johnson's suicide from Cook as he is worried it will demoralise him. Holiday and Cook follow Dunne to the gas station where Wilson works and are excited at the potential connection. They split up and Holiday confronts Dunne and realises that while he is corrupt he was not involved in Johnson's death. Holiday resolves to tell Cook the truth. Cook follows Wilson and then goes to his home with plans to break in. Cook approaches the house but becomes suddenly unwell and passes away in his car outside. Holiday tells Ramone that Cook is missing and eventually finds his body. Holiday moves it to another location to avoid the press saying that Cook was still obsessed with the palindrome case. Blaming himself for Cook's death, he resolves to break into Wilson's home himself. In an unrelated drug shootout, Dunne is on the take, and in the melee, Brock, Benjamin and Dunne are killed and Henderson flees. The novel closes with a return to 1985 and the revelation that Wilson was responsible for the palindrome murders, hiding trophies from each victim in his record collection. ===== Tough, sharp-shooting, and just a bit unkempt, Cha Soo-kyung (Go Hyun-jung) is the leader of Investigation Team 1 at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. She is haunted by her failure, years ago, to catch a serial killer who wound up murdering her fiancé and escaping. When a new serial killer whose crimes resemble the old killer's surfaces in Seoul, Cha is appointed as the first female detective to head H.I.T, the Homicide Investigation Team, charged with capturing the murderer. Soo-kyung's work is her life, and she is most comfortable when she is with her team. Because of her determination and work ethic, she immediately clashes with newly appointed D.A. Kim Jae-yoon (Ha Jung-woo) from the Prosecutor's Office who was assigned to work for H.I.T. Jae-yoon is a laid-back playboy whose greatest priority is to enjoy life. Despite their differences and personal conflicts, the two make a surprisingly formidable crime-fighting duo, and slowly realize that they have a lot to learn from each other. Soo-kyung must overcome her past and her grief for her dead boyfriend, and come to terms with her feelings for Jae- yoon. ===== Angie (Kierston Wareing), a young woman frustrated after being fired from her thirtieth dead-end job, decides to set up a recruitment agency of her own, running it from her kitchen with her friend and flatmate Rose (Juliet Ellis). Angie is able to build a successful business, while also dealing with a neglected son who gets in trouble at school and parents who disapprove of her venture. She also has to keep reassuring Rose that they will become legitimate once the business is on a firm financial footing - they do not have a licence, but Angie at least insists on only hiring workers with papers, not illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, Angie becomes romantically involved with Karol (Lesław Żurek), an English-speaking Pole who is in the same predicament as those Angie recruits. She also helps Mahmoud, his wife and two young daughters, much to Rose's distress. Mahmoud has been ordered deported, but he has gone into hiding to avoid a likely jail sentence back home in Iran. Despite Rose's misgivings, Angie becomes increasingly eager to do whatever it takes to build the business. When Angie anonymously informs the government about a camp of immigrants, that is the final straw for Rose. She quits. Disaster strikes when one employer refuses to pay twenty of Angie's workers the £40,000 they are owed. They blame her, and some of them take drastic action. They first kidnap her son Jamie (Joe Siffleet), then tie her up. After searching her flat, they take her profits (about a quarter of what they are due) and leave, but not before warning her that they want the rest or she will never see her son again. Soon after, Jamie shows up, unaware that the "policemen" he was talking to were fake. In the final scene, Angie abandons her scruples completely; she travels to the Ukraine to knowingly recruit illegal workers, offering to obtain forged papers for them. ===== The year is 1659. Miguel Lienzo is in financial trouble as a result of some trades in sugar that have gone poorly. He is being pursued by his creditors and is looking for a way out of his current problems. His friend Geertruid persuades him to invest in coffee, a little-known commodity in Europe. After trying coffee for himself at a Turkish coffee house, he is convinced that there could be a market for the beverage in Europe. He devises a scheme to manipulate the price of coffee by buying up as much as possible on several exchanges around Europe simultaneously. Miguel gets Geertruid to front the money for the initial purchases, and he arranges for most of the foreign trades, ordering 90 barrels of coffee through an Amsterdam broker named Isaiah Nunes. Meanwhile, Miguel is living with his younger brother Daniel and his young wife, Hannah, who is pregnant. Miguel owes money to Daniel as well as to other creditors, but his coffee scheme will take months to pay off, and he is on the verge of losing more money on some bad investments in brandy futures contract. His long-time enemy Solomon Parido approaches him with overtures of friendship and an offer to connect Miguel with a buyer for the brandy futures. Though skeptical, Miguel goes through with the trade, only to see the price of brandy rise just before close of trading. The trade mitigated Miguel's potential losses, but cost him money he might have earned if he had retained them. On the advice of Alonzo Alferonda, Miguel is able to earn a significant profit on whale oil futures, which costs Parido considerably and allows Miguel to pay off many of his debts and regain some standing in the community. Several intrigues follow. Miguel finds a mutual attraction with his sister-in-law Hannah. Parido catches wind of Miguel's interest in coffee, and appears to have coffee interests of his own. Parido uses his influence with the Jewish ruling council, the Ma'amad, to censure Miguel. Miguel receives threats from creditors still waiting to be paid, even as he is himself waiting to be paid for his profits in the whale oil trade. He begins to have suspicions about Geertruid's trustworthiness and takes some of her coffee-investment money to pay some of his creditors. Miguel and Daniel's relationship is strained by many of these events. When Nunes's coffee shipment arrives in Amsterdam, it appears that Nunes has promised it to both Parido and Miguel Lienzo. Parido and Lienzo place a wager on the final price of coffee for the day and both attempt to manipulate the price in their favor. Miguel wins the wager and a considerable sum, but betrays Geertruid in the process, believing Geertruid to having been Parido's spy. He repays her initial investment but cuts her out of the profits she was expecting. Hannah deceives Daniel by informing him that their baby is actually Miguel's and, along with his bankruptcy, he informs her he is leaving the city and will grant her a divorce. She goes to Miguel's house and they plan to marry. Miguel learns that Geertruid was working for Alferonda, not Parido; he tries too late to make amends. Geertruid leaves the city with her companion, Hendrick, but not before Hendrick beats Miguel's sometime-friend Joachim in retribution for Miguel's betrayal. Miguel and Hannah have a son, Samuel, and later another boy. His prosperous future now lies securely in the coffee trade. ===== An unhappily married couple, Chung and his wife Kuen in Hong Kong invite the wife's beautiful cousin, who has survived a horrifying experience in Mainland China, to live with them. She has her own special way of overcoming hardship and becomes the master of the barbecue. ===== Paul Scallen, a deputy marshal, is escorting train robber and wanted fugitive Jimmy Kidd to Tucson to stand trial. The two travel to a small town called Contention, where they prepare to catch a train to Yuma later in the afternoon. The two hole up in a hotel room close to the train station with the help of Mr. Timpey, a representative of Wells Fargo sent to ensure Kidd is brought to justice for stealing the bank's money. Scallen and Kidd wait in the hotel room and spend the next few hours discussing Scallen's pay and motivations. Scallen sees several men waiting outside, who are revealed by Kidd to be his gang, who have been tracking them in secret. Their leader, Kidd's loyal second-in-command Charlie Prince, asks after Kidd, who assures Charlie that he will soon be released and urges Scallen to do so to avoid bloodshed. Scallen refuses and the two continue to wait for the train. Mr. Timpey returns, along with another man named Moon, who is intent on killing Kidd for a crime he was acquitted of in a previous trial. After a brief scuffle in which Scallen incapacitates Moon before he can shoot Kidd, the two leave the hotel room in order to catch the arriving train to Yuma. After reaching the train station, Scallen finds himself surrounded by Charlie’s men, and after a brief exchange, a gunfight ensues in which Kidd attempts to crawl away while Scallen shoots Charlie and another gang member dead. Scallen makes a break for the train, pulling Kidd onto the car with him. Safely inside the train car, the two agree that Scallen has earned his money. ===== Elmo Bunn is an L.A. pizza delivery man with a reputation for never having delivered a cold pizza or being stiffed on a bill. When a call comes into his shop for an extra-large with sausage and anchovies to go to a dangerous part of East Hollywood, Elmo knows he's in for trouble. ===== Qiro Anturasi, Royal Cartographer of Nalenyr, had been instrumental for his family's reputation as the most reliable map-charter in the known world. Merchants and princes all sought his clan's maps, even as the House of Anturasi continued sending out expeditions to expand their wealth of information, surveying unmapped territories, making detail notes of fauna, flora and geography. The Anturasi had been vital to Nalenyr's growing wealth and rise in power. Considered a crucial state treasure that must not fall into the wrong hands, Qiro was confined, on orders and under protection of the Naleni princes, to his estate Anturasikun in Moriande, capital of Nalenyr. There, he continued to oversee his clan's map-making enterprise, training the scions of the clan into the family trade, ruthlessly subjecting them to rigorous training and demands, for more than half a century. Now, the family stood poised on the brink of a historical breakthrough event which could catapult their standing further and beyond the imagination of rival map- makers. Intertwined with their mission were the political ramifications for Nalenyr, the aggressive northern state of Deseiron, and Helosunde which served as buffer between the two former powers. Much of Helosunde had been under Desei occupation, and Nalenyr provided Helosundian refugees sanctuary and support to confound Desei designs on Nalenyr. Qiro's grandsons, Jorim and Keles, were tasked with undertakings that would take them in opposite directions. Jorim was to embark on a specially commissioned ship Stormwolf to make accurate longitudinal charts at sea with a secret new instrument. Keles was to tasked to rediscover the lost segment of the pre-Cataclysmic Spice Route, which would take him into ground zero of the Cataclysm, a region where the ancient wild magic still raged. Nirati, sister to Jorim and Keles, remained behind in Moriande to hold the fort, for stakes were high and there were many hidden players whose intrigues threatened her beloved brothers. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the devastations caused by the wild magic, the jaecai who had not departed with Empress Cyrsa's expedition, continued the xidantzu tradition in their schools martial arts. Their best students became itinerant warriors who travelled the realms to help fight injustice without regard to political affiliations. Moraven Tolo was one such warrior. When hints to powerful cache of ancient weapons, imbued with magicks from their former wielders, came to his attention, the jaecais became concerned that opportunistic parties would see it as an easy means of raising a strong army without the necessary ability, discipline and experience to control the power, possibly leading to history repeating itself. ===== As the elephants in Celesteville took to motoring, the city's train station lost its original purpose. Queen Celeste decided to convert the station into an Art museum to showcase all the artworks she and Babar had collected over the years. When the museum was opened, the adult elephants patiently explained to the young elephants different perspectives on art appreciation. ===== John Kinsdale is a NATO computer specialist living with his wife and two children in Naples, Italy. Trying to find a new housekeeper, she calls the number on an ad in the domestics section of a local English-language newspaper. When Kinsdale arrives home from work, he finds his family brutally murdered with the perpetrators nowhere in sight. The sudden tragedy nearly drives him to suicide, but upon seeing a television report on the deaths he instead resolves to avenge his family's murder. After the funeral, Kinsdale is visited by Police Inspector Lupo, is coordinating investigation efforts with the U.S. State Department. Lupo tells Kinsdale that hair strands at the crime scene identify the suspect as a redheaded male, between the ages of 25 and 45. Kinsdale steals U.S. Embassy credentials from Lupo, before meeting with his colleagues Janice Tilman and Mike McAllister. With McAllister, he runs the suspect's description and the analytics of their hair sample through a NATO database, and finds two possible suspects; Americans Andrew Taylor, who has disappeared, and Eddy Fonseca. Kinsdale tracks down Fonseca to the Pompeian ruins, but quickly rules him out when it becomes apparent he's just a tourist. Another American family is killed under similar circumstances, so Kinsdale travels to the crime scene using his stolen credentials, where he meets an Embassy worker named George Edmonds. After a few drinks at a local bar, Edmonds discloses the President received a letter several weeks ago demanding the release of a group of political prisoners and $10 million, or every three days an American family living in Italy will be murdered. The first two deadlines have already passed, with the third fast approaching. Meanwhile, Lupo is briefed by a CIA agent about the suspected perpetrators behind the murders; Taylor and known terrorist Kamal Hamshari. Lupo talks to Edmonds about Fonseca, believing it was Edmonds who interviewed the man, as he is the only other person with credentials at the embassy. Edmonds describes the man he met and mentions he also had a pass, prompting Lupo to realize it was Kinsdale. Upon returning to Naples, Kinsdale is confronted by McAllister, who realizes Kinsdale plans to kill Taylor and produces a computer prediction that only gives Kinsdale an eight percent chance of success. Through the same newspaper his wife read, Kinsdale realizes that the terrorists are targeting families who answer to a domestic want ad. Claiming he is surveying the effectiveness of the classified advertisements, Kinsdale learns that the Gerardi family has just made an appointment to talk to a prospective housecleaner, Miss Pidgeon. Before Kinsdale can leave, Inspector Lupo arrives to arrest him, but Kinsdale flees and manages to elude capture. That night, he breaks into the Geraldi residence armed with a gun and orders them to cooperate. When Miss Pidgeon arrives at the door, her suspicions are immediately raised and her men open fire on the house, but flee when Kinsdale returns fire, accidentally leaving behind a purse. Kinsdale goes to Janice's apartment, where he is promptly berated by McAllister for not going to the police and risking the lives of the other targeted families., but Kinsdale retorts that he will not allow the killers to be imprisoned just so another group can hold the U.S. hostage. Searching Pidgeon's purse, finds a napkin with the name of a café printed on it. Going to the cafe, he finds the killers' van and spots Taylor walking outside. He gets in his car, follows Taylor down an alley, hits him with his car and then beats him bloody. Taylor stabs him with a switchblade knife, but Kinsdale disarms him, then strangles Taylor to death with a steel chain. Bleeding, Kinsdale returns to the garage, breaks into the upstairs apartment and discovers his daughter's doll and a phone number. CIA agents ambush Kinsdale, but see his stolen credentials and assume he's a State Department investigator, giving him a ride back to the embassy. Back at the base, Kamal, posing as a deliveryman, drives a small truck, with Pidgeon and ten armed men inside. They enter a closed Post Exchange building, kill the janitor and hide. When the exchange opens, they take the customers hostage and order the store manager to deliver a ransom letter to authorities. At the U.S. Embassy, Kinsdale asks a woman to dial the phone number he found. When he discovers it is for the Post Exchange, he steals a car, drives onto the base and crashes through the front windows of the building. He leaps out, shoots a number of terrorists and is wounded, but manages to knock down another killer. He pulls off one of the terrorists' masks to reveal Pidgeon, who spits in his face before he shoots her between the eyes. Another gunman takes aim on Kinsdale, but a female hostage picks up a machine gun and kills the man. Kamal take another hostage, but Kinsdale keeps shooting, forcing Kamal to run outside. Kinsdale follows and guns his wife's killer down, then falls to his knees. Inspector Lupo and Mike McAllister take the empty pistol from Kinsdale's hands as he sobs. ===== The story begins in 1858 at Charton School, a fictional English public school (i.e. secondary boys’ private school in North American usage) where Dr. George Onslow, a clergyman of great note, is headmaster. Onslow is credited with having turned around the previously poor reputation of the school: it is now seen as a very successful institution. But Onslow has a secret: he is sexually attracted to many of the pupils and has had affairs with several of them. There is also much homosexual behaviour amongst the boys themselves, a situation that may be due to Onslow's relatively permissive attitude. The plot of the story begins to unfold when one of Onslow's young lovers—Arthur Bright—reveals his affair with the headmaster to another pupil, Christian Anstey-Ward, an idealistic young man who admires the ancient Greek ideal of Platonic love between males. Christian is shocked and incredulous, but is forced to believe Arthur when the latter gives him a passionate letter indiscreetly written to him by Onslow. Christian leaves Charton that year, still in possession of the letter. The following Summer he has a homosexual experience with a boy a little younger than himself and the guilt and self-doubt precipitated by this event prompts him to consider whether he should break Arthur‘s confidence and reveal Onslow‘s secret. While on holiday in Europe, he describes the whole affair in a letter to his father. The rest of the novel relates how the latter is able to use this information to exert a powerful hold on Onslow, which radically affects not only his career, but also his personal relationships and inner life. ===== Rod Turner (McShane), a former star footballer now an alcoholic and playing in a minor league, is persuaded to attempt a comeback to the professional game with "the Saints", owned by a wealthy pop star who, when young, had idolized Turner. When a striker gets injured, Turner is signed by the Third Division team and helps to get them to a Cup Final, where they play "Leicester Forest". But can he stop drinking and make it to the final? Scenes of the Cup Final include footage from the 1979 Football League Cup Final between Southampton and Nottingham Forest at Wembley Stadium. Maidenhead FC was used for much of the football scenes, also Ipswich Town for the FA Cup semi-final. ===== Freighter owner and captain Mike Dillon (Dana Andrews) reluctantly smuggles Jewish immigrants into Palestine, making it very clear to the Jewish leader, David Vogel (Stephen McNally), he is only doing it for the money. Dillon is annoyed to learn that he will have to go ashore to get paid the eight thousand U.S. dollars he is owed. When a British patrol boat arrives sooner than expected, Dillon is forced to join the Jews in their flight for freedom. There are casualties on both sides before the refugees get away, including one of Dillon's men. ===== > Agnes is a girl snatched from her home and family by Child Welfare > government services. She grows up in a series of foster homes, apart from > the warmth and support of her family and her cultural community. Popular > media depicting Aboriginal people both entice and repel Agnes. Later, in the > 1960s she joins many others hitchhiking across America and in that journey > she begins to discover the authentic voice inside her that had been silenced > but never lost. ===== ;Part 1 Emma Lou Born in Boise, Idaho, Emma Lou Morgan is an African-American girl who has extremely dark skin. Her mother's family have lighter skin that shows European ancestry; the "blue-black" hue came from her father, who left her and her mother soon after her birth. Believing that her color will reduce her marriageability, her mother's people try to help her lighten her skin with bleaching and commercially available creams, but nothing works. When her mother says "a black boy could get along but a black girl would never know anything but sorrow and disappointment," Emma Lou wishes she had been a boy. The only "Negro pupil in the entire school," she feels extra conspicuous at graduation among the white faces and white robes. Emma Lou's Uncle Joe encourages her to go to the University of Southern California (USC), where she'll be among black students, and he encourages her to study education and move South to teach. He believes that smaller towns like Boise "encouraged stupid color prejudice such as she encountered among the blue vein circle in her home town." Emma Lou’s maternal grandmother was closely associated with the "blue veins", black people whose skin was light enough to show veins. Uncle Joe thought life would be better for Emma Lou in Los Angeles, where people had more to think about. At USC, Emma Lou intends to meet the "right" crowd among other Negro students. On registration day she meets a black girl named Hazel Mason; unfortunately, when she speaks Emma Lou decides that she is the wrong sort, definitely lower- class. Other girls, though pleasant, never invite her into their circles or sorority, especially when they recognize that they've seen her with Hazel, whose "minstrel" demeanor is not good for the black image. When Hazel drops out of school, Grace Giles become Emma Lou's friend but informs her that the sorority only accepts wealthy, light-skinned girls. Emma Lou begins to notice that black leaders tend to have light skin or light-skinned wives. By summer vacation, she feels more trapped by her skin. Back in Boise, Emma Lou meets Weldon Taylor at a picnic. Although darker than her ideal, he attracts her, and she ends up going too far with him that night, thinking she is in love. Over the next two weeks, she is thrilled to be with Taylor, for "his presence and his love making." He had been to college but temporarily dropped out to build up his tuition fund, traveling from town to town, finding work and a new girl each time. When he announced that he was leaving Boise to become a Pullman porter, Emma Lou blamed her color. She puts in the rest of her college time, then moves to New York City to find work—and hopefully, a better life. ;Part 2 Harlem In Harlem, Emma Lou meets a young man named John whom she decides is "too dark." She heads to an employment agency seeking work as a stenographer; lacking experience, she pads her account of her skills. She is sent to a real-estate office for an interview, only to be told that they have someone else in mind. She returns to the agency and the manager, Mrs. Blake, invites her to lunch, and Emma Lou is "warmed toward any suggestion of friendliness" and excited to have the chance "to make a welcome contact." Mrs. Blake tells her about work prospects, saying that black businessmen preferred to hire light-skinned, pretty girls; she advises Emma Lou to go to Columbia Teachers' College and train for a job in the public-school system. After lunch, Emma is walking on Seventh Avenue and while stopping to check her reflection, she notices a few young black men nearby and hears one comment, "There’s a girl for you ‘Fats’", to which the reply is: "Man, you know I don’t haul no coal." ;Part 3 Alva Determined to stay in New York, Emma Lou finds a job as a maid to Arline Strange, an actress "in an alleged melodrama about Negro life in Harlem." She thinks all the characters are caricatures. Arline and her brother from Chicago take Emma Lou to her first cabaret one night, where he makes her a drink from his hip flask. Emma Lou, entranced by the dancing, gets to be part of it when a man from another table, Alva, invites her. When the lights go up, he returns her to sit with Arline and her brother. The next morning, Alva and his roommate Braxton discuss the previous evening, agreeing that Alva did Emma Lou a favor in dancing with her. Intrigued by the cabaret, Emma Lou talks to the stage director about being in the dance chorus. He tells her plainly the girls are chosen in part for appearance, and notes they all have lighter skin than hers. She decides to look for a new place to live, hoping to meet "the right sort of people." One evening she goes to a casino, where she recognizes Alva. When she approaches him and asks if he remembers her, he politely acts like he does: he talks to her, dances with her, and even gives her his phone number. She calls him a couple of times before they make plans. Braxton is critical of Alva's seeing her, but he thinks, "She’s just as good as the rest, and you know what they say, ‘The Blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.’" ;Part 4 Rent Party After avoiding taking Emma Lou to parties or dances, not wanting his friends to meet her (preferring to be seen with light-skinned Geraldine), Alva finally takes her to a "rent party. Used to manipulating young women for money, Alva liked Geraldine for herself. Emma Lou was very excited about the party, and worried that she would encounter more discrimination. Once there, they happened on to a conversation revolving around race: the differences between being a mulatto and a Negro, and individuals who are prejudiced or "color struck." At the rent party, Emma had consumed more alcohol than usual, and the next morning her landlady demands that she find somewhere else to stay. As the woman speaks, Emma Lou remembers a little more about Alva bringing her home after the party and realizes that the woman might be right that her behavior hadn't met the boardinghouse's respectable standards. Emma Lou thought more about Alva, who seemed kinder than others in her life, but she was aware of his manipulation. Alva has his own trouble with Braxton: he has no job and pays no rent. When Braxton finally moves out, Alva doesn't want Emma Lou to move in. One night the couple goes to a theatre, but Emma Lou doesn't have a good time: "You’re always taking me some place, or placing me in some position where I’ll be insulted." One night, after an argument with Emma Lou, Alva returns to his room to find Geraldine sleeping in his bed; when she wakens, she announces that she's pregnant by him. ;Part 5 Pyrrhic Victory Two years later, Emma Lou works as a personal maid/companion to Clere Sloane, a retired actress married to Campbell Kitchen, a white writer very interested in Harlem. He encouraged Emma Lou to seek more education in order to achieve economic independence. She has few friends and still feels very out-of-place. When she tries to see Alva after they had stopped seeing each other for a time, Geraldine answers the door and Emma Lou leaves without comment. Geraldine and Alva's son has been born disfigured and possibly retarded and seems to bring them endless trouble; they often wish he would die. Geraldine blames Alva—another man would have made a better baby—and her mother blames both of them for not bothering to marry before his birth (or conception). Alva has become a money-wasting alcoholic; Geraldine works hard, trying to build up an escape fund. Having moved to the Y.W.C.A., Emma Lou has found some new friends and is studying teaching. She continues to work hard but to feel no better about her appearance, although her friend Gwendolyn Johnson tries to help her. She starts seeing Benson Brown, a light-skinned man described as a "yaller nigger." His appearance seems reason enough to see him. But when she learns that Geraldine had abandoned Alva and their son, she goes to check on them and he soon has her taking care of little Alva Jr. After 6 months, she begins teaching at a Harlem public school, wearing much dark-skin-concealing makeup but being teased for it by colleagues. She nurtures the child better than his parents ever did, but she and Alva have a rocky relationship. As Emma Lou gains more economic independence, she discovers that it isn't everything; she's still not happy. She decides to leave Alva and his son. When she returns to the Y.W.C.A. she contacts Benson, who announces that he and Gwendolyn have been dating and have decided to marry. They even invite her to the wedding. Emma Lou realizes she has spent her life running: she ran from Boise's color prejudice; she left Los Angeles for similar reasons. But she decides never to run again. She knows there are many people like her and that she has to accept herself. ===== Cyd (Bea Alonzo), is a hopeless romantic who dreams of finding her " Mr Dreamboy," she finally gets her chance when she met three very different men who look exactly alike. However just when she thinks she's finally found the one, her dreams of finding a happily ever after is shattered when it turns out to be one big lie. ===== Six emotionally disturbed teenaged boys are sent from their homes throughout the United States by their affluent parents to Box Canyon Boys Camp near Prescott, Arizona, as the camp's slogan was "Send us a boy – we'll send you a cowboy", and the parents hoped that the camp would mature the boys. Each having originally been assigned to one of the six cabins, they are quickly outcast by the other campers, and find themselves together in one cabin. After a contest between the six cabins sorts out the pecking order, their cabin naturally lands in last place. The boys, in accordance with the camp rules, do manage to raid all of the superior cabins and conquer the trophies of the higher-ranking cabins to advance in rank, but they use badly executed subterfuge that is looked down upon by the other campers. Five of the six cabins were named after various Native American tribes and awarded mounted animal heads corresponding to each of the cabins' ranks, which are, from highest to lowest ranks: *Apache – bull buffalo *Sioux – mountain lion *Comanches – black bear *Cheyenne – bobcat *Navajo – pronghorn *Bedwetters – chamberpot All of the Bedwetters refer to each other by last names in the book and movie, including the two Lally brothers, who are referred to as Lally 1 and Lally 2, although their first names are mentioned in the book. An unpleasant confrontation between the boys and their counselor, resulting from an attempted molestation by the counselor to the youngest of the boys, ends with Teft breaking into their counselor's footlocker, and because of the whiskey, beer, cigarettes, and pornography found in the footlocker, they blackmail the counselor, who is called "Wheaties", into taking them to a ranch where they witness a canned hunt of surplus bison that had been rounded up from the surrounding area. The hunters (who won their spots at that hunt by lottery) sat or stood along a fence, while shooting at the fenced-in, nearly tame bison. When the boys return, disgusted at the slaughter, they decide to break out of camp that night to stop the canned hunt. They ride horses into town, where Teft hot-wires an old truck. After a ride into Flagstaff, Arizona, on U.S. Route 66, they enter an all-night eatery to get food, but are accosted by two "redneck" types, who follow the boys away from the restaurant and force them over, where they discover that the truck is hot-wired. Teft pulls a .22-caliber rifle from the back of the truck and shoots out a tire on the car driven by the men harassing the boys, then orders the men to start walking or they can "wear earrings". Cotton and the other boys climb back into the truck and continue their journey to the ranch, but run out of gas just before reaching their destination. They walk the rest of the way and make their way through the fence maze on the ranch until they get the exit gate open, so the bison can escape. However, the bison are content and have no intention of escaping, until Teft hot-wires a state-owned truck and Cotton drives into the herd of buffalo while blowing the truck's horn, which alerts the hunters who are camped out nearby. Cotton drives the truck through the herd of buffalo and over the edge of the Mogollon Rim to his death, which ends the book as the hunters surround the other boys. ===== Kolchak, sitting on the bed of a sleazy hotel room, is listening to a replay of his dictation on his portable tape recorder. The notes are about a series of murders that have plagued the Las Vegas Strip, and a cover-up of those events by the authorities. All of the victims had their bodies drained of blood. When a meeting is conducted with the sheriff's department, the FBI, the police, and others, they discover the suspect's true identity is Janos Skorzeny, who is the prime suspect in multiple homicides extending back years, involving massive loss of blood. When Skorzeny attempts to rob a hospital, the police are called to stop him. Skorzeny is shot multiple times without effect, and manages to escape by outrunning a police car and motorcycle. Kolchak's girlfriend, Gail Foster, either a Vegas showgirl or local prostitute (or both), urges him to explore vampire lore. The evidence persuades Kolchak to suspect that Skorzeny is a vampire, much to the disbelief of his boss Anthony "Tony" Vincenzo. Following yet another failed attempt to capture Skorzeny despite overwhelming police force, the authorities strike a deal with Kolchak to eschew their traditional investigative methods for his vampire-centric approach in exchange for giving him exclusive rights to the story. Acting on a tip, Kolchak locates Skorzeny's safe house and pursues the story on his own, fearful that the police will renege on their deal. Compromised when the vampire returns, Kolchak struggles to escape and is nearly killed by Skorzeny before his friend FBI Agent Bernie Jenks, alerted to Kolchak's presence in the house, arrives and joins the fight. Realizing that dawn has broken, Kolchak and Jenks force a weakened Skorzeny back against a sun-drenched staircase and stake the vampire, just as authorities burst through the front door. Kolchak writes his version of the story for the newspaper and proposes to his girlfriend, telling her that they will both move to New York City. The authorities, however, unwilling to publicly admit that Skorzeny was the vampire Kolchak claimed, print a false version of the newspaper story with his byline and threaten to charge him with first degree murder unless he quietly leaves Las Vegas. They also tell him that his girlfriend Gail has already been forced to leave the city for being "an undesirable element." Carl exhausts his savings placing personal advertisements across the country in a futile attempt to find her. The final scene reverts to Kolchak in his sleazy hotel room. He explains that if anyone tries to verify the events in the book they will find that all witnesses have either left town, are not talking, or are dead. He concludes by noting that Skorzeny and all his victims have been cremated, destroying any further ability to investigate the matter and eliminating the possibility that those killed by Skorzeny would in turn rise as vampires and perpetuate the curse. ===== Jane Nichols (Katherine Heigl) has been a bridesmaid for 27 weddings. One night when she is attending two weddings almost simultaneously, she meets Kevin Doyle (James Marsden), who helps her get home but discusses with her his cynical views of marriage. He finds her day planner in the cab they shared. Meanwhile, Jane's sister Tess (Malin Åkerman) arrives from Europe and falls in love with Jane's boss George (Edward Burns) at first sight. Tess pretends to like the same things that George does to get him to like her. Despite being in love with George herself, Jane does not reveal the truth and her sister's courtship progresses rapidly. Soon the new couple announce that they intend to marry in three weeks and Jane becomes the wedding planner. The reporter who agrees to post their wedding turns out to be Kevin, who writes wedding announcements under the name Malcolm Doyle. After looking at the contents of Jane's planner, he decides to use the contents as material for a piece on the "perpetual bridesmaid" and hopefully be promoted to writing investigative pieces about the real news. Jane is unaware of Kevin's intentions. When he asks to interview her for his column on Tess, he gets her to try on all 27 bridesmaids dresses in her closet. He takes pictures of her in all of them and sends them with the completed article to his boss. As they get to know each other, Kevin begins to think that Jane is not as one-dimensional as he thought and asks his editor to hold his article so he can "fix" it. When Kevin finds out that Jane is getting her sister's marriage fixed with the man she loves, he rebukes her. Jane agrees to one drink with Kevin and ends up getting drunk. That has both of them kiss and have sex in the car. The next morning, the two go to a diner and a waitress recognizes Jane. Kevin's editor ran the article on the front page of the 'Commitments' section, despite Kevin and her settling to hold it for a while. When Jane finds out about it, she feels betrayed and is furious at him. Tess then gets angry at Jane for giving Kevin material about her, whom he describes as a bridezilla. The fight escalates when Jane sees that Tess altered their late mother's wedding dress to her own style — the last straw on Tess' string of lies to George and demands on Jane. Despite the fight, Tess asks Jane to make a slideshow for her engagement party. Jane decides that George should know the truth about Tess. She shows pictures of Tess with other men, eating ribs (as she claimed that she is a vegetarian, like George), holding a cat by the tail, and recoiling from George's dog (she told him that she loves dogs, but actually hates them) — in short, doing all the things she had told George that she never did. After that, Pedro (David Castro), the child George mentors, reveals to the crowd that Tess had actually have him clean George's apartment for money. All of this humiliating truth to her seem irrational, and so George breaks off the engagement to the wedding. Jane's friend, Casey (Judy Greer), points out that telling the truth to George and breaking their engagement at the party didn't help the situation, and that it would have been better if she had been upfront with him in the beginning. The next day, Jane meets Tess to apologize. She is still mad with Jane, as Tess believes that Jane resented her throughout the years. Tess reveals that the reason she stayed in New York was because she got fired from her job and her boyfriend dumped her; she explains that when she met George she'd tried to be like Jane since she fell in love with him. Tess also encourages Jane to focus on her life and her own needs, rather than becoming a pushover for all of her friends by bending over backwards for their every desire. Later at work, George tells Jane that he appreciates her because she never says no. Remembering that Kevin once said the same thing as a criticism, Jane quits and admits she only stayed at the job because she was in love with George. She discovers after two experimental kisses that she no longer loves him and goes to meet Kevin. She announces in front of a crowd at a wedding he is covering that she is in love with him. One year later Jane and Kevin are getting married. George and Tess meet again and a hope for a second chance shows. All 27 brides whom Jane helped, as well as Tess and Casey, are her bridesmaids, wearing the dresses she once wore as their bridesmaid. ===== The film begins in medias res, with the suspects getting caught and being interrogated. Then it flashes back to three years earlier and the film continues forward from there, interspersed with occasional bits from the interrogation. Three years before getting caught, Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) lived a comfortable upper middle class life until her husband Don Cardigan (Ted Danson) was "downsized" from his position and sank into debt. The paycheck for Selina, the housecleaner, bounces again. Selina confronts Bridget and suggests she take a job as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. On her first day on the job, Bridget hatches a scheme to steal worn-out dollar bills slated for destruction. For her team she chooses Nina (Queen Latifah), who works the dollar bill shredder, and Jackie (Katie Holmes), who takes bill carts from the Secret Service room to the shredding room. It takes some work to persuade Nina to join, but Jackie joins them quickly. The plan is that in the Secret Service room Bridget will switch a cart's official Master-brand lock with a near identical lock she purchased at Home Depot. Bridget will tell Jackie the cart number and give Nina the official lock. When Jackie gets the chosen cart, she dumps some bills from the cart into a trash can before taking the cart to Nina, who then uses Bridget's key to open it and restores the official lock, and then proceeds to shred the remaining bills. Meanwhile, Bridget, in the course of her janitorial duties, retrieves the dumped bills from the trash and splits them among Nina and Jackie in the women's restroom. Their first robbery is a success though the take is not as big as they had hoped. However, they're emboldened to do it repeatedly. Once Don and Bridget pay off their debt, Don suggests they stop before they get caught. Bridget rejects this idea and persuades Nina and Jackie to keep going. They almost get caught but they end up cutting in Barry (Roger Cross), one of the security guards, who is attracted to Nina. A Federal Bank Examiner shows up at a party at Bridget's house, and the next day Bridget sees him at work. The Examiner confronts Glover (Stephen Root), who is unwilling as a matter of professional pride to admit anyone has stolen a single bill out of his bank. Tipped off, that night Bridget and her accomplices begin trying to get rid of all the loot stashed in their houses, but the cops move in before all the evidence is destroyed. Bridget escapes but the others get caught. Bridget hires a tax attorney to defend them. The lawyer gets Bridget and all her accomplices off the hook for their crimes, because neither the law enforcement, nor the examiner can prove that the large stash of cash in their homes came from the Federal Reserve Bank. Technically, it isn't illegal to have a couple of hundred thousand dollars in cash lying around inside a private residence. However, they spent a large sum of that stolen cash to buy expensive objects and improvements on their houses, and did not pay the taxes for them because they couldn't justify the income. The IRS demands they pay their taxes, which turn out to be equal in amount to the money that still remains. Eight months later, Bridget reveals to Nina and Jackie that she had stashed away much of the stolen money in the basement of a friend's bar. ===== Jenna (McGregor) is a teenaged competitive skater who has been coached by her overprotective, high-strung, gun-obsessed mother Celia (De Mornay). When she quits competing and decides to go to college in Vancouver, her mother becomes very upset and tries to prevent her from leaving home; eventually locking her in a hot sauna until Jenna agrees to stay. Her father gives Jenna money behind her mother's back in order to help Jenna leave home. Her mother goes to Canada to force her to come back home. Once there, the mother becomes increasing unstable as she first tries to bring a handgun into Canada, tries to procure one from a drug dealer, and finally has sex with a policeman who gets a gun for her. After Jenna brings her father to Vancouver to fly her mother home that day, the mother instead insists, against Jenna's protests, that she will drive herself back. The father leaves and that night the mother breaks into Jenna's apartment and forces her to pack and drive home by gun point. Before they get out of Canada, the mother fires a warning shot at an overly- persistent squeegee man who, after cleaning the car windshield, is looking for some form of payment. Shaking, she orders Jenna to stop driving and runs into a tunnel in a park where she pulls the gun out and begs Jenna to shoot her. A struggle ensues over the gun with the mother getting a grazed in the head, knocking her off of her feet. As Jenna cradles her, Celia acknowledges to Jenna that she must let her go. The movie ends with the mother returning to the United States the next morning with a bandage on her head.IFC November Thrills and Chills ===== One evening, at the home of the cobbler old Bob and his washerwoman wife Joan, there is a knock at the door. Bob opens the door and sees a little boy in a torn and stained page's uniform. When asked "who are you?", the boy replies "I was a rat". Bob and Joan have no children and they take care of the boy by providing food and a bed. The boy was unable to eat with a spoon, and during his first evening he tore his sheets and blankets into strips. However, Bob and Joan were patient and the boy was a quick learner who, wanting to please them, carefully followed their instructions. When he spots a photograph of Princess Aurelia, the prince's fiancée, in the newspaper, he appears to recognise her as 'Mary Jane'. Joan calls the boy "Roger", the name Bob and Joan would have used for their son. Bob and Joan take Roger to the City Hall to find how to return Roger to his proper home. An official declares that there are no lost children in the city, then notices that Roger has eaten a pencil belonging to the City Council. Bob and Joan take Roger to the orphanage, the police station, and the hospital, but no one can help locate Roger's home. The Philosopher Royal learns about Roger and his belief that he was a rat, and takes Roger to the palace for tests. Roger announces that he has "been here before", and states that the Prince will marry Mary Jane, only to be told that the Prince will marry Aurelia. When confronted by a cat, Roger runs away from the palace and undergoes adventures as people exploit his ability to eat almost anything, and to wriggle through small openings. Roger escapes and lives in the sewers, but is discovered by the local paper, The Daily Scourge, who exploit Roger again by writing about "the monster of the sewers". After a publicity campaign, Roger is captured and declared a menace whose fate is to be determined by a tribunal. Bob and Joan learn that the tribunal may declare Roger to be a non- human monster that must be exterminated. Joan notices a picture of Princess Aurelia who by now has married the Prince. Joan remembers that Roger had mentioned Mary Jane, so in desperation Bob and Joan contact the Princess. When hearing about Roger and the name "Mary Jane" she announces that she will help. Due to her intervention, Roger is saved and is adopted by Bob and Joan. The Princess had been a girl who worked in the kitchen and kept a pet rat. Her wish to attend a ball at the palace was granted, and her rat was turned into a page boy as her attendant – a "Cinderella story". ===== Part I opens as Madison Washington carries a heavy load through the woods, lamenting his condition under slavery. Mr. Listwell, a free white man, secretly watches him in silence. In Part II, the story moves ahead five years. Mr. Listwell is sitting at the table with his wife when they hear a knock at the door. Madison Washington is running from slavery, and Mr. Listwell is more than willing to help him escape. As they talk, Mr. Listwell tells Madison he remembers him from so many years before, and asks him where he has been all of this time. Madison reveals that on the day Mr. Listwell saw him, he left his wife and children to escape and seek freedom. Unable to find his way to the North, a week later he returned to his plantation. He met with his wife who regularly gave him food and provision, and for five years hid in the woods. However, a great fire caused Madison to lose his hiding place, which is why he ran to see Mr. Listwell. Mr. Listwell gives Madison a new coat and provisions and helps him escape to Canada. In Part III, Mr. Listwell is in a tavern and reveals that he has traveled that day. As he drinks, he sees a slave-gang on their way to market, and is surprised to see Madison Washington among the slaves. Madison reveals that he reached Canada, but he missed his wife so much that he returned to the United States to help her escape. He reached her bedroom window, but he scared her so much that she woke up her master. The couple were chased by the master and his dogs. His wife was shot down and killed and he had been sold to traders who would take him to the Deep South. Mr. Listwell realizes there's nothing he can do for Madison in these conditions, but implores the man to put his trust in God. As he is leaving, Mr. Listwell buys 3 files; he gives them and $10 secretly to Madison. Part III ends with Madison taken aboard a ship, put in chains together with other slaves, and sailing to the South for re-sale. In Part IV, white men speak about "unfortunate" events that occurred aboard the ship Creole. Madison Washington gained the trust of all of the overseers on board and, using the files Mr. Listwell had given him, cuts through his fetters and leads the slaves in rebellion. Nineteen slaves survived the battle. Madison took over as captain of the ship, ordering it sailed to Nassau, in the British colony of the Bahamas. Britain had abolished slavery there in 1834. In Nassau, a group of black soldiers declared that they only protected property, and people were not property, so the nineteen slaves were freed. ===== Finding Kraftland is structured as a top ten countdown of the coolest attractions in Kraftland, which is the name given to Richard Kraft's house. Though the host, Stacey, continually bounces around between Richard Kraft's collectibles, the real focus of the film is the bond that develops between Richard and his son Nicholas. Richard remarks that, when Nicholas was born, he didn't know what to make of him, saying he felt as though an "alien being" was living with him. He then goes on to say that, around the time Nicholas turns 3, he realizes that he is "the most interesting person on the planet." This begins a whirl-wind love affair between father and son that sees the two trek around the globe in order to ride every roller coaster, launch themselves into a zero-gravity flight, and generally seek as many thrills as life has to offer. This story unfolds as Richard's collection, which consists of James Bond collectibles from the 1960s, pieces of Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions, thousands of board games, and advertising memorabilia from Richard's childhood, is displayed and pored over by Stacy. The other story line that develops is Richard's relationship with his deceased parents and older brother, David Kraft, who died in 1993 due to Crohn's disease. The documentary comes to a climax when it is discovered that Richard has also developed Crohn's. =====